Gary O’Neil has said he expects Matheus Nunes to remain at Wolves beyond Friday’s transfer deadline day with Manchester City yet to lodge an improved offer for the Portugal international, who has stopped training in a bid to force through a move.
City last week saw a £47million bid rejected for the 25-year-old, who moved to Molineux for a club-record £38million last summer, and O’Neil said the champions were yet to return with a better offer.
“He’s not with the group at the moment, his choice,” O’Neil said. “After the bid from Manchester City he decided it was best for him to not to be with the group. Club policy and how we deal with things like that is set in place.
“As far as I’m aware there’s been no improved bid. Matheus Nunes is still our player, we have a long contract still with him and at this moment I fully expect him to be here come September 2.
“The next few days will be key of course and conversations will take place that will be private between me and Matheus and I’m sure the situation will be resolved.”
Speaking after watching a much-changed Wolves line-up brush aside League One Blackpool 5-0 to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup, O’Neil stopped short of criticising Nunes’ actions, saying he first needed to speak to the player.
“You never need (to stop training) but players do,” he said. “You’ve seen it all over the country, I’ve seen it when I was playing, we’ve seen it in recent transfer windows, I can think of one in January, and it won’t change how the club deals with any bids or any situation.
“He definitely didn’t (need to) and there is a way to deal with these things but I’ll keep most of my thoughts private for when I speak with Matheus.
“I will speak to him and there will be advisors and representatives and there’s a lot of things that go on – it’s too simplistic to say ‘he’s done this and we think that’. There’s a lot involved in situations like this.
“For me to try and answer in a press conference without Matheus for me to speak to about it and understand exactly where everything is is probably unfair…I’ll save my opinions until after I’ve spoken to him.”
Asked how easily Nunes would be reintegrated into the squad should he stay at Molineux, O’Neil said: “The conversation and our understanding of the situation will be the deciding factor. At this moment I don’t have enough information to make an accurate decision on it.”
Regardless of how the situation with Nunes plays out, Wolves go into the final few days of the transfer window with work to do. Daniel Podence is out of favour and seemingly on his way out, while Goncalo Guedes has returned to Benfica on loan – a move which frees up space on the wage bill.
“I’m excited because I’m still convinced that on September 2 the squad will be in a better place than it was last week,” O’Neil added. “I’m excited for the next few days…
“Does that mean there’s going to be loads of players arriving? Possibly, possibly not. But we’re as well prepared as we can be for the end of a transfer window where things can move quickly.”
Wolves saw off Blackpool with a brace from Matt Doherty, and goals from Sasa Kalajdzic, Fabio Silva, and debutant Nathan Fraser, leaving the Seasiders without a win or a goal in five matches.
“It was a difficult night against really good players, a good team,” Blackpool boss Neil Critchley said.
“Everything just seems to be going against us a little bit…But I can’t fault the players in the way they went about the game and they went after it.”
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Darmstadt: Reus stars in farewell game
Marco Reus scored and assisted in his final Bundesliga game for Borussia Dortmund as they thrashed already-relegated Darmstadt 4-0.
The German teed up Ian Maatsen for the opener on the half-hour mark before scoring a stunning free-kick eight minutes later to put Dortmund in control.
Donyell Malen scored his 13th goal of the season to round things off after substitute Julian Brandt had latched onto Jadon Sancho's ball for a third.
Dortmund could have had more as Reus, Malen and Marcel Sabitzer struck the woodwork in either half, but it did not matter as Darmstadt struggled to show a threat.
Edin Terzic's side finished fifth in the final Champions League spot, while Darmstadt are relegated as the bottom club.
Data Debrief:
Reus has been directly involved in 251 goals in the Bundesliga (156G 95A in 391 games), making him just the third player to reach 250 goals and assists since his Bundesliga debut in August 2009, behind Thomas Müller 318 and Robert Lewandowski 367.
The German bids farewell to Signal Iduna Park having scored nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions this season, though he will be hoping to add to that tally in his final match for Dortmund - the Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1.
Chelsea edge out Man City to claim fifth straight WSL title with thumping win at Old Trafford
Mayra Ramirez turned in a stellar performance to propel Chelsea to the WSL title in Emma Hayes' final match in charge as the Blues thrashed Manchester United 6-0.
Earlier in May, Hayes – who is ending a 12-year stint in charge of the Blues to become the United States coach – had all but given up on claiming a fifth straight WSL crown.
Yet Chelsea's 8-0 victory over Bristol City two weeks ago, combined with Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal, opened the door, and after beating Tottenham in midweek, the Blues knew a win, while maintaining their positive goal difference, would be enough.
And they made sure there was no room for error with an incredible first-half display inspired by Ramirez, who scored twice and set up goals for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken at Old Trafford.
Melanie Leupolz got in on the act early in the second half as Chelsea's celebrations began in earnest, with Fran Kirby netting late on to complete the rout on her farewell appearance.
Ultimately, City – likely deflated by the news coming from Old Trafford – held up their end of the bargain, but shorn of top goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Gareth Taylor's team could only beat Aston Villa 2-1.
City were constantly chasing their title rivals, with Ramirez and Rytting Kaneryd putting Chelsea 2-0 up at United inside eight minutes.
Mary Fowler nudged City ahead at Villa Park, though when Taylor's team went in at the interval, they will have seen additional goals from record signing Ramirez and Nusken had all but sewn up the title for Chelsea already.
Leupolz has scored her first WSL goal in over two years to add further gloss for Chelsea when they came back out from the restart in Manchester, and City were then hit by a further blow when Rachel Daly equalised for Villa.
Lauren Hemp, who had assisted Fowler's opener, restored City's lead, though it was never going to be enough, with Kirby's farewell goal ensuring Chelsea finished with a goal difference of 53 compared to their rivals' 46.
Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last nine WSL games that have come on the final day of the season, while the Blues are now nine WSL matches without loss against United, having won eight of those fixtures.
Hoffenheim 4-2 Bayern Munich: Tuchel bows out on defeat thanks to Kramaric hat-trick
Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to slump to a 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim courtesy of a second-half Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in Thomas Tuchel's final game.
Early goals from Mathys Tel and Alphonso Davies saw the injury-depleted Bavarians go 2-0 up by the sixth minute.
Hoffenheim, however, pulled a goal back through Germany international Maximilian Beier just two minutes later, with the hosts gradually taking some of the early pace out of the game.
Bayern's injury troubles were further compounded when they lost Aleksandar Pavlovic to injury in the 35th minute, and struggled to cope with Hoffenheim's threat in the second half.
Kramaric then delivered a stunning 19-minute hat-trick with the Bayern defence in ruins, ending a disappointing season in third place with 72 points.
Bayer Leverkusen finished in top spot on 90 points. VfB Stuttgart finished runners-up on 73 with a 4-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim finished seventh, in the Europa Conference League place.
Data Debrief:
Thomas Muller made his 473rd Bundesliga appearance for Bayern on Saturday, drawing level with Sepp Maier as the club's record appearance maker in the competition.
Bayern failed to have a single shot on target in the second half, while Kramaric ran riot to subject Bayern to their worst league finish since 2011.
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