Celtic's former £4m target available for transfer as Championship clubs rush to sign Wolves midfielder

Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield United are leading the charge to sign out-of-favour Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle in the January transfer window.

An exclusive report from our sister outlet the Sheffield Star understands that the Blades are determined to bolster their midfield options this month after Oliver Arblaster’s season-ending injury and Vini Souza recent knock.

The outlet claims Doyle is still held in high regard from his previous loan spell with the South Yorkshire side in 2022/23 which saw him score three times in 33 Championship appearances as the Blades secured automatic promotion under the guidance of Paul Heckingbottom.

As it stands, Chris Wilder currently has former Everton man Tom Davies and youngster at his disposal Sydie Peck and while Hamza Choudhury has been identified as the first-choice central midfield target, progress on that move has not gone as smoothly as previously hoped leading to a growing feeling that the recruitment team may need to look elsewhere.

Doyle signed for Wolves on a season-long loan deal from Premier League champions Manchester City in September 2023 in a move which contained a £4.3m option to buy clause and a 50% sell-on clause for any potential profit that the West Midlands side made.

Then manager Gary O’Neil beat off interest from Scottish champions Celtic to get the deal over the line in a deal which would ultimately be a makeweight in City’s Matheus Nunes transfer.

Doyle racked up 32 appearances across all competitions in his first term at Molineux and in that period started 11 league matches while failing to register a single goal and assist in the Premier League.

After his move became permanent, Doyle vowed that the best was still to come and told the club website: “It's a nice feeling, having somewhere that you can call home and somewhere you feel comfortable in and you're happy on and off the pitch, and I'm happy in that sense.”

Could Tommy Doyle leave Wolves in January?

After struggling for regular minutes in his first season, former England Under-21 international Tommy Doyle has failed to make an impression this term under both Gary O’Neil and his successor Vitor Pereira.

This term, Doyle has played 19 matches in total, including 17 in the Premier League where has registered one assist.

The bulk of the 23-year-old’s appearances have so far come from the subs bench, and he has only been able to start three league matches this season, with the last coming in a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest where he was largely off the pace before manager Pereira described Doyle as “missing” in his post-match press conference.

Doyle came off the bench for the final four minutes of Wolves’ 3-0 loss at Newcastle United last night but big-money summer signing Andre and Joao Gomes appear to be Pereira’s first-choice partnership.

The midfielder is thought to be valued at around £4m and has previously spoke of his love for South Yorkshire giants Sheffield United, he said during his loan spell: “I love the place and I would love to come back. I’ve got a special bond with the club and the fans so we’ll see what happens. But yes, of course I would love to come back.”