Matheus Nunes will not be involved in Wolves’ Carabao Cup tie at home to Blackpool on Tuesday after he stopped training with the club in an effort to force through a move to Manchester City.
Premier League champions City stepped up their pursuit of Nunes after cooling their interest in West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, and had a bid of €55 million rejected last week for the Portuguese attacker.
While Wolves have not received any fresh bids from City, Nunes has now stopped training with Gary O’Neil’s side, the PA news agency understands.
The 25-year-old, who joined from Sporting Lisbon last summer in a deal worth £42m, was absent for Saturday’s 1-0 win away to Everton and will again be missing from the squad for the upcoming second-round cup tie at Molineux.
Nunes will face disciplinary action for his decision to stop training, but could be integrated back into the squad if no move occurs before the summer transfer window shuts at 11pm on Friday.
Taking on The Tangerines.
🏆🆚 pic.twitter.com/UjcsDNjkMd— Wolves (@Wolves) August 28, 2023
Head coach O’Neil will also be without Hwang Hee-chan for the clash with Blackpool, who are 15th in Sky Bet League One, due to a hamstring issue.
Austria forward Sasa Kalajdzic scored a late winner at Everton in what was only his third Wolves appearance in a year after suffering a rupture to his anterior cruciate ligament on his debut last September.
But O’Neil, who took charge earlier this month, remains cautious over Kalajdzic’s involvement and says his role will remain limited as he builds his way back to full fitness.
He said: “He is obviously still on a journey, getting back to full fitness. He is not one you can play for 90 minutes week in, week out at this moment.
“It is hard to assess when you come in new. You just see him training and everyone tells you he has been out for a while.
“You just try to judge him at that moment against the rest of that group and the ones he is competing with for a starting place.
“He looked a little bit behind the others, sharpness and fitness-wise, but I obviously don’t have a clear picture in my mind of what he is like when he is full throttle either.
“He understands where he needs to improve and that he needs extra time on the grass and we need to keep working.
“But he also understands he can have a big impact on football matches still.”
