02 February 2024 , 13:00
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Gary O’Neil refused point-blank to gamble Wolves’ financial future on Armando Broja - and made no apologies for doing so.
The Molineux chief was in the running to sign the forward on loan from Chelsea but said that the possibility of breaching the rules meant he couldn’t take the punt. The Premier League ’s decision to hit Everton with a ten-point deduction has had the desired effect as the £5m fee to take the striker on board was out of Wolves ’ reach.
O’Neil said: “There were a few strikers out there I liked - and we couldn’t afford any. We could afford some but those weren’t ones who I thought could help us.
“Finances are an issue. I was speaking to Chelsea about Armando Broja for a lot of the day. We couldn’t afford to do it financially.
“We weren’t able to go to the places others were. And that’s the position. It’s the position the club said they were in when they spoke to me.
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“I was hopeful that clearing some wages would enable me to act. It turns out that wages weren’t a problem, the fees were.
“Of course, we could have thrown our toys out of the pram, had a strop, demanded things - but all of that would have been jeopardising the good of the club. But we haven’t broken any rules or gone into any areas where we shouldn’t.”
Wolves’ boss did, however, take a sideswipe at the authorities after he found himself juggling the twin demands of deadline day and preparation for Thursday night’s game against Manchester United.
Armando Broja joined Fulham on loan from Chelsea on deadline day (Jed Leicester/REX/Shutterstock)
He said: “Playing matches on deadline day is a terrible idea. To be working all day in the office with the sporting director and then be prepping for a game against Manchester United, to have to leave at 5pm to do the game, it’s a crazy way to do it.
“I need to be 100 per cent focused on the game and you’re being asked questions from higher up the chain…’can we do this?’ Or ‘should we do that?’
“All the while, it’s interrupting game preparation. I ended up being on the touchline for the last few hours. If there were any decisions to be made, I’d have had no input.
“It doesn’t take a genius to work out that if a manager has a football match, then he can’t have any input on potential signings.
“People will say: ‘Get your signings done earlier,’ but as you’ve seen, buying and selling clubs will wait until the end. It’s going to remain that way. It would be more sensible to have no games on deadline day.”