Wolves may have a second chance to land Boulaye Dia in January with Salernitana reportedly inserting a £17 million release clause into the contract of the Premier League-linked centre-forward.
If Gary O’Neil and co had succeeded in bringing Boulaye Dia to Molineux on the final day of the summer transfer window, how many more points would Wolves have on the board? How many more goals would they have scored
Would they have grabbed a point at Crystal Palace, or all three at Luton Town? Would they have turned their first-half dominance into a more commanding lead vs Liverpool?
Of course, no one can answer such questions with any degree of certainty. But a clinical centre-forward like Dia – scorer of 16 Serie A goals in 2022/23 – certainly feels like the missing piece in O’Neil’s jigsaw.
Wolves could have new Boulaye Dia chacne
Wolves, per Corriere dello Sport, failed with a loan-to-buy bid for Dia on the final day of the summer window. An offer which had Salernitana director Morgan de Sanctis pulling no punches. Had the Italian outfit accepted, De Sanctis quipped, it would have caused a ‘diplomatic incident’.
But with Dia burning a few bridges – Salernitana were not exactly pleased with his attitude, the club’s president admitting that the Senegal international wanted that move to Wolverhampton – a belated departure in 2024 feels more likely than not.
Especially with Corriere dello Sport claiming that Salernitana are negotiating a new – and potentially very affordable – release clause. One in the region of £17 million. That, interestingly, is only £2 million more than Wolves were willing to pay in August.
Gary O’Neil needs a striker
Come the winter, a player of Dia’s goal-poaching talents could be viewed as the difference between survival and relegation for a side on track to score fewer than 40 league strikes again in 2023/24.
One club’s £17 million is another club’s ‘priceless
“In this complex industry there are many interests. Anything can happen. Dia, hearing the bells of the Premier League, would have liked to leave,” Danilo Iervolino, Salernitana’s president, told Radio Bussola 24 a few weeks ago.
“He is a young man, and his ambitions should not be stifled. On the other hand, however, we have invested a lot (in him), knowing that he is an important striker on whom we are betting incredibly highly.”
