29 Aug 2026 17:12:42
Sasa leaving to sign for Lask free transfer with 50% sell on clause. 15 mill and give him away on a free great bit of business by Jeff Shi. I suppose gets his wages of the books. Absolutely shocking the last few windows under J Shi should have gone long before he did.
29 Aug 2026 18:20:40
Not a bad deal to be honest. Wolves might only have been wanting a small fee for him, but no one has come knocking.
Sasa has had (I think) three very serious injuries. He's probably one more serious injury away from forced retirement.
I can't see LASK playing Sasa regularly. If they do and he has no more injuries and he scores goals, Wolves might eventually get some money for him.
Wolves have got him off the wage bill. Sadly these things happen in football.
30 Aug 2026 00:47:30
It's a fair point regarding the injuries, but worth noting that one of those happened before we signed him! In short, what a terrible waste of £15m for a club that really couldn't afford to waste £15m!
30 Aug 2026 03:08:36
Not strictly true, Bullys. Sasa had done his ACL 2 years before joining us, but it was the other leg to the one he did twice whilst with us.
30 Aug 2026 09:33:56
With respect to his injuries, he had suffered numerous serious long term injuries before Wolves signed him.
But, however you look at it, the transfer was a disaster.
He has barely played, for anyone, since signing, and although some of his wages will have been covered whilst on loan, he will have been a not insignificant drain on the club throughout his time at the club.
Ironically, last season was his 3rd best season in terms of league appearances in his entire 11 year career!
If he leaves on a free, the write off will equal the amort, so only his wages will be saved.
Consequently, and I am surprised to be saying this, it hardly seems worthwhile when Wolves hold an option on him for 27-28.
If he plays well and stays fit, his value will rise next season - either at Wolves, where he may be a much needed back up for Raul, or out on loan.
He can then be sold for a fee, or, if he is playing well, kept, as Wolves can exercise the option.
If he doesn't, he will be released.
The 50% sell-on only kicks in if LASK sells him, and, as he is 29, he is likely to either play out his career there or move for a negligible fee/free at the end of his career.
I guess the only value is to remove a non HG player from the squad.
What a total waste!
30 Aug 2026 22:18:34
It's an interesting argument, I think a squad player for £15m is short change in the Prem.
He did also score a couple of goals, so over the years he probably was worth £15m.
I'm more miffed we missed out on the following players.
Vitinha £20m
Trincao £25m
Goncalves.
They are just players we had on our books.
I think if we had stuck with Nuno it would have turned out very different.
The bigger issue was changing manager every 18 months, rather than money spent.
No clear strategy or plan since Thelwell, Nuno and Mendes ran the show.
30 Aug 2026 22:38:29
What's not strictly true, Flea? I said one of his major injuries happened before he signed for us, and as such we should never have risked the transfer fee we did. All you seem to have done is confirm exactly what I said.
I didn't say anything about it being the same leg because it is entirely irrelevant. My point was he was prone to injury before we bought him, because he was.
30 Aug 2026 22:46:29
Fosun, I'm not sure it's that simple to be honest, £15m might not be a lot in the Prem but what's more relevant is how much the club could afford to gamble. The season he signed, we spent £100m in the window, so 15% of that season's budget was spent on a gamble.
A gamble we couldn't afford. Also, he scored 3 goals in 16 games, having cost the club well over £25m in fees and wages. If you think that's good value, you should give the club a call. I reckon Jeff might have a job for you! . ??
31 Aug 2026 07:16:06
I think it's just one of those, though, Bullysboy. He was signed as a squad player. At the time the star man was Raul.
So signing any player in 2020 was difficult, as that squad were amazing and finished 5 points off the Champions League. Players aren't stupid, they want to have an idea of game time.
Due to that period around 2018-2020, many players would think twice; I'm not starting ahead of Neves, Moutinho and Raul, for example.
Sasa, as a target man, knew he was going to be competing with Raul. I don't dispute his injury record should have been looked at more closely. I'm just saying £15m for a squad player is par for the course.
Maybe bigger questions should be asked about the coach merry-go-round, and players like Silva not having a path after we spent £35m on him 2 transfer windows before.
But then again, I never saw Silva as a target man, as he wanted the ball to feet.
I just feel like there has been confusion over football styles since Nuno left, and we have signed players for the opposite system to what we were trying to play.
Like this season we want 4 at the back and three forwards. But our cbs are slow, and hopefully they are just too good for the Championship. I have reservations about Mane and R Gomes, as they haven't been consistent at Wolves. But I hope they keep up the form of the past two games.