Sources: Wolves in advanced talks to sign Nico Elvedi
Wolves are in advanced talks to sign Borussia Mochengladbach star Nico Elvedi, sources have told Football Insider.
The Premier League club are closing in on a deal for the Swiss centre-back, 26, and are confident of securing an agreement.
Wolves have made their move for Elvedi, who is out of contract at the Bundesliga club in the summer of 2024.
They are expected to pay £7.7million for the defender, who is a 47-times Switzerland international.
Elvedi has been linked with other Premier League clubs this summer, including Tottenham.
But it is Julen Lopetegui’s side who look set to win the race for Elvedi’s signature.
Speaking to German media outlet Bild last month (8 June), Gladbach director Roland Virkus admitted that if the defender did not put pen to paper on a new deal, he would be sold this summer.
But the centre-back reportedly turned down the offer of a new deal in Germany and is closing in on a move to the English top flight.
Elvedi made 34 appearances across all competitions for the Bundesliga side last term in a campaign that saw them finish tenth in the German top flight.
The defender netted three goals and was in the starting lineup for all 34 of matches he featured in.
Wolves are in the market for reinforcements and are able to spend big after Ruben Neves’ £47m move to Al Hilal.
The top flight side recently added Craig Dawson to their defensive ranks in January when he put pen to paper on a contract running until 2025.
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Kieran Maguire can’t believe £99m Wolves development
The £99million government loan taken out by Wolves makes a lot of sense given their debt payments.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that he is confused by the criticism aimed at Wolves for securing the loan deal.
As reported by Express & Star (11 July), the Midlands club took out a £99million government loan from government agency UK Export Finance.
Football Insider revealed that Wolves owner Guo Guangchang has now loaned a total of £178million in the past four years.
The £99m loan was taken out in 2022, but details around the borrowed funds are only just being released.
Maguire believes the deal is very logical and will help the club deal with any debt structure from previous borrowings.
“I think in the case of Wolves, the £99million loan taken out in 2022 was for the restructuring of debt rather than taking on brand new borrowings,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Therefore, the strategy was to replace one loan with a fairly high interest rate to another one with a low rate.
“There is a lot of logic in the decision and those interest cost savings can be put into the playing budget.
“So I think this is some shrewd business done by Wolves.
“There will be some critics that say football clubs shouldn’t be taking advantage of government funding.
“But it’s not illegal and I can’t understand why there is much opposition to it. If anything I expect other clubs to follow.“
