Daniel Podence will sign a new contract with Wolves before rejoining Olympiacos on loan.
Daniel Podence is likely to sign a new contract with Wolves before returning to Olympiacos on loan.
With only one year left on his contract, the winger has been free to depart all summer, with both Julen Lopetegui and successor Gary O’Neil excluding him from first team training.
According to reports, clubs from Qatar and Saudi Arabia are interested in the forward, and while Wolves are anxious to get rid of him, there is little rush with other leagues’ transfer windows still open.
Podence appears to be returning to Olympiacos on loan for the remainder of the season. There will be no opportunity to acquire him permanently, but Podence will extend his contract with Wolves until 2025 in order to maintain his worth and enable the club sell him in the future.
Olympiacos sold him to Wolves for £17 million in January 2020.
On Podence’s condition, O’Neil remarked on Sunday, “I never close the doors on anybody, the situation is moving.” 95 percent of the window has closed, but things can still happen; I’m not writing anyone off; it’s still part of what we do, and we’ll see how the next few weeks go.”
Meanwhile, Wolves have added first-team coach Ian Burchnall to O’Neil’s coaching staff.
He joins from Anderlecht, where he has been an assistant coach since March.
Burchnall has played across Europe and at various levels since joining Norwegian club Sarpsborg in 2012, when he made his first team debut.
He also worked in Sweden before taking over as manager of Notts County, where he achieved two successive play-off finishes.
Burchnall then spent a brief spell with League One side Forest Green Rovers last summer before transferring to Belgium.
The Leicester-born coach will now work with deputy head coach Tim Jenkins, first-team coach Shaun Derry, and goalkeeping coach Neil Cutler on O’Neil’s coaching staff.
Wolves signed Burchnall after failing to sign West Ham’s Mark Robson.
The Hammers’ under-23 manager was set to join O’Neil when he came at Molineux, but West Ham head coach David Moyes rejected the move and promoted Robson to first team coach, leaving Wolves to find a replacement.
