Wolves tried and failed to sign a new striker in January – but one player might be wishing he had pushed harder for a move to Molineux.
Gary O’Neil really wanted to bring in a new centre-forward in the last window, and had even sanctioned the loan exits of Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic, seemingly because was confident he’d get his wish.
But as the window wore on, it became more and more apparent that there wasn’t much wiggle room for Wolves.
The financial situation was still a little bit precarious, and it really hindered the club when it came to making additions.
One player the club targeted late on was Armando Broja, who is actually probably wishing now that he had moved to Molineux…
Armando Broja has barely played for Fulham since joining them over Wolves
After seeing a deal for Yuri Alberto collapse, Wolves attempted to sign Armando Broja on deadline day.
At one stage it looked as though Wanderers had a decent chance, but ultimately, a deal could not be financed.
Fulham reportedly paid £4 million to take the Albanian for the rest of the season, which is quite steep given his goalscoring record of eight goals in 62 games in the Premier League with Chelsea and Southampton.
Broja – a player Mauricio Pochettino thinks has ‘amazing potential’ – made the move to Craven Cottage believing he would be able to get more minutes under his belt.
But so far, he has really struggled for opportunities under Marco Silva.
He’s made just four appearances so far, and played for a total of just 47 minutes.
Silva’s Fulham have been in decent form, although they did lose 2-1 to Wolves of course, and the manager has been a bit reluctant to change things up. Rodrigo Muniz has been the preferred man up top.
Both Chelsea and Broja may wish he had joined Wolves
It has been surprising to see how little Broja has played for Fulham since he moved to Craven Cottage, given how much they paid Chelsea for his loan.
But Silva has been quite taken by Muniz, and he also has former Wolves striker Raul Jimenez as an option.
It may well be that Broja is slightly regretting not pushing harder to join Wolves, who have been absolutely crying out for a striker. At the moment, Nathan Fraser is having to lead the line and it’s not easy for the teenager.
Obviously, Wolves couldn’t meet Chelsea’s demands, but had Broja pushed then the Blues might have been more willing to cooperate.
Chelsea are also likely to be slightly frustrated with Broja’s lack of game time at Fulham.
They will have wanted him to feature heavily, as it will be their goal to sell him for as much as possible this summer. Ultimately, he can’t drive up his market value if he isn’t playing.
