Wolverhampton Wanderers journalist Tim Spiers has been sharing some details on former Wolves winger Diogo Jota and his transfer to fellow Premier League side Liverpool back in the previous summer transfer window.
This comes after Spiers recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Ornstein & Chapman Podcast where he spoke about a number of topics concerning the Midlands club.
On the subject of Jota and his summer move to Anfield, Spiers had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I think it’s a slight misconception Liverpool came in and took Jota off them against their will. He was out of the team at the end of last season. I mean, he was [the] second sub for the Europa League quarter-final against Olympiacos and [Pedro] Neto was the one who came on ahead of him.
“So, having bought him for £13 million three years earlier, Liverpool then willing to pay £45 million for a player who’s not guaranteed a first-team place, I mean, it just made complete and total sense to sell.”
Wolves originally signed Jota on a loan deal from Spanish side Atletico Madrid back in the 2017 summer transfer window before signing him on a permanent deal in July 2018 for a fee of £12.6 million.
Overall, the 24-year-old, who is currently valued at £36 million, made a total of 131 appearances for Wolves in which he managed to score 44 goals and provide 19 assists along the way before moving to Liverpool for a fee of £40.23 million according to Transfermarkt.
TIF Thoughts on Tim Spiers’ comments on Jota and his move to Liverpool…
Given how Jota made a stunning start to life at Liverpool by scoring five goals in his first nine Premier League games before picking up a knee injury, and the fact that Wolves have had a mixed bag of league results this season, it would be easy to suggest that Wolves made a mistake in allowing the winger to leave when he did.
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However, with Spiers clearing up some of the details surrounding his move to the Merseyside and what his situation at Wolves was at the time in terms of his place in the team and the pecking order last season, it’s hard to disagree with the journalist that it made sense for the Midlands club to take the money for Jota when they did.