Wolves learn of £2m release clause for potential Gary O'Neil replacement

Wolves have learned how much it would cost to appoint a manager they have been linked with following their poor start to the campaign.

It was reported by The Sun in mid-October that Wolves were tracking Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin. Thelin has made an impressive start to life in Scotland, and has them competing with Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title.

They said that O’Neil would be afforded time to see how he performed against more ‘favourable’ fixtures, and whilst there has been a slight improvement, they find themselves bottom of the league.

According to Not The Old Firm, for any club including potentially Wolves interested in Thelin, they would have to pay £2m to prize him away from Scotland. They say that a release clause was put in to his contract when he made the move from Elfsborg in the summer.

Aberdeen are level on points with Celtic in the league and only trail them by goal difference. They are a whole nine points ahead of Rangers who usually contest the league with Celtic.

At the weekend, they did suffer a heavy 6-0 defeat to Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup, but that hasn’t taken the shine off of the job Thelin has done so with the 46-year-old named the Manager of the Month for August. His previous experience in management saw him win the Allsvenskan title with Elfsborg in 2023.

Since it emerged that there was interest in Thelin, Wolves narrowly lost to Manchester City, having been undone by a controversial refereeing decision. They came from two goals down to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, but struggled to hold on against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Now with a big game against Southampton at the weekend the pressure is on for GON to deliver. Even a win won’t get them out of the relegation zone, and despite only signing a new four-year contract in August, it appears his future at Molineux is uncertain.