Forget Marc Pubill - Wolves could now get over transfer hijack misery by signing Champions League-proven gem
Wolves must explore alternatives after missing out on a prime transfer target
Wolverhampton Wanderers are expected to delve back into the market to try and sign a right-back after missing out on right-back Marc Pubill.
The Old Gold had offered £13m to try and secure the services of the former Almeria man and had appeared to be in pole position to get the deal over the line before a fresh twist saw Spanish giants Atletico Madrid hijack the deal. Fabrizio Romano confirmed the news on X just hours after claiming that Wolves were hoping to get the deal done in ‘the next few hours’.
He posted on X: “Atlético Madrid have hijacked Marc Pubill deal and agreement has been reached with Wolves, here we go! Atléti closed the deal this afternoon after fast negotiations with Almería, all the documents are signed. Five year contract for Pubill.”
Why Wolves missed out on Marc Pubill
Former Wolves captain Nelson Semedo’s departure earlier this summer has left the club with a huge void to fill in the right-back position heading into the 2025/26 campaign. Wolves had been linked with a move for Kyle Walker-Peters before his transfer to West Ham before emerging as the front-runners to land Marc Pubill.
Pubill helped Almeria, who are owned by boxing promoter Turki Al-Sheikh, to a sixth place finish in the second division. He played 36 times, contributing one goal and four assists, earning himself a place in the Spain squad for the Under-21 European Championships.
Wolves admired Pubill and saw him as a great successor to Semedo. However, despite their admiration it’s thought that the youngster’s preference was to remain closer to home in Spain, particularly with the added incentive of Champions League football.
“Let’s not get it twisted, this deal was done,” said Liam Keen of the Express & Star. “Wolves were signing this footballer. He was coming. The only thing they needed to do was get him in the country and sign the contract. It was all ready to go. Wolves were very confident of getting it over the line and not expecting any issues.
“And at the eleventh hour, as has happened in previous transfer windows – not regularly, but it has happened occasionally – that another club comes in and hijacks the deal. It’s a massive blow for Wolves.”
The ideal alternative Wolves could still look to target
With pre-season just getting underway with a 2-1 loss to Santa Clara, Vitor Pereira had hoped this would be the perfect opportunity to bed in more new recruits and get them used to their new surroundings at Molineux. The collapse of the Marc Pubill deal comes as a blow to pre-season plans, but there’s still plenty of talent on the market in the right-back position, including a one-time Serie A winner in Davide Calabria.
Calabria is a product of the star-studded AC Milan academy, who featured 272 times for his boyhood club, scoring 10 goals and producing 21 assists. He’s been capped seven times for Italy and formed part of the Milan side which won the Serie A title in 2021/22 while also twice winning the Supercoppa Italiana. He’s played in Champions League semi-finals, has bags of European experience and is blessed with the versatility to play as both a full-back and wing-back when needed.
Calabria left Milan after 18 years to join Bologna during the January window, featuring 13 times for the Emilia-Romagna, including three minutes as a substitute during the club’s Coppa Italia triumph. He’s currently a free agent and is still yet to link up with a new side ahead of pre-season. At 28-years-of-age, he’d offer elite experience, creativity, solidity in defence and is still likely to have many years left at the top level.
He could command a fairly high wage, but would likely be an excellent successor to Semedo and potentially a contender for the captain’s armband ahead of what could be another challenging year for Vitor Pereira’s side.