Wolves came close to sign Divock Origi from Liverpool for £22million plus add-ons earlier this month, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The newspaper claim the Midlands big spenders held discussions with the Premier League giants about a deal that would have taken the Belgium international to Molineux on a permanent deal.
The Echo report Origi “wasn’t keen” on moving to Wolves but could now join Borussia Dortmund, who are pursuing the £27million-valued forward in the final two weeks of the European window.
OPINION
It is a measure of the ambition of Wolves that they were willing to smash their transfer record yet again to land Origi. Backed by Chinese owners Fosun, and benefitting from the contacts book of super-agent Jorge Mendes, Wolves have thrown the chequebook at the transfer market in the last 12 months and have wrapped up a series of mega deals, including eventually signing Adama Traore from Middlesbrough to set a new £18million club transfer record. Origi would have cost at least £4million more, numbers that are par for the course for a striker of his pedigree and age. The Belgian may have slipped down the pecking order at Liverpool, who pay him £1.5million-a-year according to stats site Spotrac, but he has earned 25 caps in a golden era for the Belgium national team and has an impressive scoring record in the Premier League and European club football. He would have been an upgrade on the current strikers at Wolves, including Leo Bonatini and Raul Jimenez.