Bruno Lage manager
Bruno Lage has explained the different scenarios which led to Wolverhampton Wanderers deciding to cash in on Rafa Mir and Owen Otasowie. Wolves have raked in more than £17million for two players who only featured in 11 games combined during their respective stints at Molineux. Mir, on the back of his excellent goal-laden loan spell at Huesca, has sealed a £13.7m transfer to Sevilla, while USA international Otasowie has joined Club Brugge for £3.5m. The money is set to be reinvested in the final days of the transfer window with Lage targeting at least three new additions before the August 31 deadline. The head coach hoped Mir could fill a vacancy he has in attack, but the Spanish striker made it clear he wanted to leave after returning from the Olympics to resume Wolves training earlier this week.
Bruno Lage revealed: “It was very clear and very simple. I said to him, ‘If you want to stay I would like you to stay, but you know this world, if you bring a good proposal for you and for the club, it’s an opportunity for you and the club.’ A good proposal came and he accepted it. I wish him all the best and thank him for his time here. You can see he’s a good player and the same way he wished me luck, I wish him all the best in his career.”
Wolves believe they’ve secured an excellent deal for Mir, who only spent six months of his three and a half years with the club stationed at Molineux. Mir spent time with Las Palmas and Nottingham Forest before joining Huesca on loan in January 2020, and his career finally took off. He scored 25 goals in 57 appearances for Huesca, including 13 in La Liga last term as they were relegated back to the Segunda Division. The lure of a permanent return to Spain with Champions League club Sevilla appealed to Mir, while Wolves were happy to offload a player with just 12 months remaining on his contract.
Bruno Lage added: “I think he trained three times with us because one day we did a double session and he enjoyed working with us, but it’s not just a question of work, it’s a question of environment. He wanted to return to his country. When we have a situation like that we do not need to respect (it) because the final decision is ours, but at least to understand. If we receive a proposal in that situation it’s best to sell him and in this case we got some money to invest in another player.”
Otasowie’s situation was different, according to Lage, although Wolves’ willingness to sell centred around the midfielder’s reluctance to sign a new contract. The 20-year-old featured six times in the Premier League last season, although Nuno Espirito Santo rarely used him in his favoured position.
Bruno Lage said: “When you are in a position like him, three years in the club, and everyone sees him as a potential player, but when he takes too long sometimes you need a different challenge. For Otasowie I think it’s the best. Maybe he can grow up faster and become the top player we want him to become. Sometimes after two or three years when you continue to be potential, it’s better to give him a different challenge. It can be on loan or like him, a final proposal.”
