Wolves explain why Matheus Nunes transfer to Man City took so long

Wolves explain why Matheus Nunes’ move to Manchester City took so long.
Manchester City signed Matheus Nunes from Wolves for £53 million, a deal hampered by the midfielder’s refusal to train.
Matheus Nunes’ attempts to push a move to Manchester City had little effect on Wolves’ decision to sell the midfielder.

With a week until the conclusion of the transfer window, City launched a £47 million bid for Portuguese midfielder Nunes, who subsequently went on strike from training, missing two Wolves games.

When City returned with a few days to go in the transfer window, a deal was struck for £53 million, and Nunes was confirmed at the Etihad on deadline day. Tommy Doyle, a City prodigy, has joined Wolves on loan, with a £5 million option to make the transfer permanent next summer.

When asked about Nunes’ behavior in his final days as a Wolves player, manager Gary O’Neil said the midfielder was misguided and that the club would never modify their attitude unless they received their asking price.

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Speaking to talkSPORT, O’Neil said: “It’s difficult for me to talk about now because Matheus is obviously at Manchester City. I don’t want to talk too much about Manchester City’s players. That wouldn’t have been how I chose to handle it.

“I know players nowadays have a lot of people advising them on how best to do things. As a club, we were always really clear on how the process would go. We had a valuation for Matheus. We also had things we needed to try and get in place to make sure we could replace him within the next few days.

“So that the offer we received, if it had got to the level we were happy with, we were always going to give Matheus our blessing and allow him to move on.

“But the way the player behaves in that situation doesn’t change that. It doesn’t bring the price down, it doesn’t make us more keen to do it or not do it. There’s a lot of things that go into a player moving clubs, especially at that time in the window. It’s not how I would have chosen to do it.

“But before that time with Matheus. A very talented boy. Good kid, works his socks off every single day for us. Hopefully the move goes well for him.”