Guirane N’Daw is a target for Wolves

Monday 31st May 2010, 11:30AM BST.

Guirane N’Daw is a target for Wolves

Wolves’ search for another midfielder has taken in an inquiry for powerful Senegal international Guirane N’Daw – as Anderlecht finally rubberstamped Jelle van Damme’s £2.5m move to Molineux.

Former Tottenham sporting director Damien Comolli, now in a similar position at Nantes, revealed boss Mick McCarthy is tracking 26-year-old midfielder N’Daw.

But Wolves say N’Daw, who they were linked with this time last year, is one of several being eyed in that position and any deal is unlikely to happen for some time as they work through a list of targets.

“We’ve had an approach from Wolves for Guirane (N’Daw),” said Comolli. “We are only at the beginning of discussions.”

The 6ft 3ins defensive midfielder spent last season on loan at Saint Etienne with a view to a permanent move, but Wolves’ interest may have changed those plans.

N’Daw, who has won 31 caps for Senegal, has a year left on his contract.

Stoke have twice tried to buy him, in summer 2008 when he moved to Nantes from Sochaux and again in January 2009, when he was rated at £3m. But with only 12 months on his deal, the price may well have come down now.

Meanwhile, agreement has finally been reached on the van Damme deal after Anderlecht accepted Wolves’ offer of payment on the full 3m euros fee up front, rather than in six month instalments. The fee includes up to 15 per cent to Southampton and five per cent to the player.

The Belgian champions wanted the cash in one lump sum after being ‘stung’ before over late payments with foreign clubs. There could be a brief wait before van Damme is unveiled as the left-back is currently on holiday.

Chris Iwelumo spent the weekend thinking over a £500,000 switch to Burnley after being shown around Turf Moor on Friday afternoon.

Should Iwelumo say ‘yes’, that deal will go through before Wolves get the chance to speak to £7m-rated Clarets striker Steven Fletcher, who is still away on holiday at the moment and has left negotiations in the hands of his agent.


  1. 1
    Paulo

    I am in favour of looking abroad for this type of player, some you win, some you lose, but we have to try and dig up some diamonds.

    This is a much better approach than just looking at Portsmouth players, who are overpaid mercenaries, and losers.

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  2. 2
    Crete Wolf

    As with a lot of names being banded about at the moment,never heard of him?.Will have to trust the 3 M’s on this one.

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  3. 3
    Rudolf

    Why would we go for this African chap when Steve Sidwell is available down the road at Villa?

    Weren’t we supposed to be adding Premier League experience this summer?

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  4. 4
    jason

    i don’t care who we get in as long as they want to play for us and not just for the money.but do we really need another midfielder?

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  5. 5
    paperchase

    Err, never heard of this guy, thats not to say he won’t be any good, but if he is, then how come some of the bigger clubs both at home and abroad aren’t interested? Anyway I thought the policy now was to bring in tried and tested premiership quality players? As for Fletcher, paying more than twice as much as Burnley paid for him (if the fee bandied about is true)seems a bit much, especially as he’s not really tried and tested in the premier league (one season only)and the premier league defenders will now know all about him, so he will find it harder to score unless of course he really is the real deal in terms of class.

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  6. 6
    KK

    Great target, he is a very good player. Hope we sign him up.

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  7. 7
    jeff

    we need to add strengh to the club and flecher would be the right fold for doyle so come on wolves don,t leave to late good luck next season

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  8. 8
    Greg

    I think the key part of this article that most people will skip over is that he is half way down a list of possible targets for that position within the team. I doubt we will see his name mentioned again. Towards the top of that list will probably be the likes of Sidwell who I would love to see come to Molineux. It’s just another scrap of news that has been spun out into a full article by the E&S. Same old same old.

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  9. 9
    crowfish

    plz 3 M’s stop messin with our heads again quoting your going to sign real quality this summer blah blah blah, ur just doing the same as always really arnt u!? penny pinching on average unproven players!

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  10. 10
    josh

    i dont think we can afford to take a chance on another player that we dont know anything about.we wasted 6.5 m last season on halford,milijas and maerhoffer who are all shocking. Just think what kind of player we could of got for that money. Steve sidwell curtis davies jamie ohara steven hunt are the kind of players id like to see at the molinuex next season.i also think steven fletcher is qaulity him and doyle up front would be exciting to watch.

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  11. 11
    Crete Wolf

    I think with that shirt on,he’s secretly working on a garage forecourt !!!.Keep your eyes open at Azda lads.

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  12. 12
    spanish ray

    I agree with crowfish[9] and josh[10].The talk is just the same as last year and,be honest,we struggled.O`Hara and Curtis Davies are the type of signings we should be striving to get,along with Keane and possibly Hunt if he could just show that he wants to further his career and not just his bank account.It may be a dream but why not sound out Olic from Bayern Munich,after his European medal he may just fancy a new challenge.If you don`t ask you don`t get.Come on 3M`S,get a move on and show some ambition for a change instead of talking about it.

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  13. 13
    N.E Wolves

    African players are only here for the cash. They dont have a good battle in them you only have to look at African national teams when they go behind how their heads drop and they start to lose discipline. I would rather Wolves pay abit extra cash for a British based player.

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  14. 14
    Noisy

    13 – I hope I won’t be the only one to point out that that may be a slight generalisation of the charachter of the billion people who live in the continent of Africa. I’m sure you have carefully considered all the African footballers with no fight though. Drogba, Viera, Essien etc etc.

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  15. 15
    teeswolf

    Again the usual comments about the signings that didn’t work last season, failing to mention the ones that did work, Doyle, USA and Zubar fabulously.
    Milijas certainly was no flop, inconsistent perhaps, but will come on having had a season now in the prem. Mancienne and Guedioura were excellent loan signings.
    The target of survival was achieved in some comfort in the end, and I have faith in the 3Ms doing the business to ensure safety with even more comfort this time round.

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  16. 16
    Wombourne Wolf

    Well done wolves on van damme finally being completed! Spanish Ray please get over your love affair with Keane, he isnt coming! And Noisy, Viera is french not african!!!! Would love to see mancienne back this season and fletcher would be a great signing but not at 7m! Sidwell would be a great signing and i think o’hara would be class if he wanted to leave london!

    UTW

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  17. 17
    The magic wanderer

    If we do sign Mancienne or have him back on loan and he plays as a central midfielder. Then we would have him, Henry, Jones, Guedioura, Edwards and Milijas. So if we are to add another central midfielder to the squad, it would have to be someone who is definitely better than all of those. Otherwise what’s the point. I don’t think you could say that of this guy and I’d be shocked if we signed another midfielder who is unproven at premiership level. Van Dame is a bit of gamble, that’s ok if its 1 player but we can’t gamble on 3-4 new signings. Fletcher yes. Right age, right attitude and proved himself last season. 3-4 more like that would be great. UTW.

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  18. 18
    john boy

    NE wolf is right we need battlers an majority of the african nations lads aint that. Bad attitudes and cash on the brain anyone rem camara,dindane another please take sum of the villa boys mick we can show em wot real midlands support is like

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  19. 19
    crowfish

    15- the point im trying to make is that ok doyler, usa & zubar did all work out plus mancienne & guedioura were decent loans also but usa n possibly doyler aside they were ALL prem gambles! this time mr moxey n morgan are spouting tht were going to add quality not qty this summer but most of our links are the same old same old! cheap unproven foreign tat! which is fine as u might unearth a gem but just dont spout us the bs to start with! thats all! cos it just winds me up! fact of the matter is our wage cap of 25-30k will be a major factor in us not signing any real quality!! i know we dont want to break bank for these players but im afraid themz the rules these dayz! u get wat u pay for! one last thing! fletcher 7m ??? a decent player yes! but cant help but think that money could b used a bit more wisely! then again they might pull in a bag of broken biscuits like, surman, hoff, jumanji, etc etc

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  20. 20
    spanish ray

    Wombourne wolf,I am like you I would like to see certain players in our side so please don`t tell me who I should or shouldn`t mention.I think we are on the same side but statements like yours make me wonder.Shut up you wally.

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  21. 21
    Stoke on Trent Wolf

    I think an attacking midfielder is much more a priority than a defensive one. Not sure about this one (N’Daw), seems like a bit of a journeyman. Someone of the ilk of Eagles, Ledley or O’Hara would be much better for us. Get Fletcher before the competiion moves in, I believe Wigan are after him too and we don’t want to lose another good, young and hungry to them.

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  22. 22
    Wolf

    Morgan tell the fat controller to stick to the plan and get premiership experience in

    by the time some of these players settle in it will be Christmas and we’ll be in another battle at the bottom

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  23. 23
    truewolves

    good strong player to replace karl henry thats if he wants to sign, as for 13. n.e.’s comment about african players not having the same battling qualities of british based players you only have to look at what the four british nations ,england,scotland,wales and northern ireland have won with thier superior battling qualities?. answer . one world cup since 1930. if the better african nations had the funding, training facilities, and coaching im sure they would have won at least two world cup competitions in a hundred years.

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  24. 24
    Wolf72

    10) Milijas…..shocking? Seriously? Pure class in my opinion, some settling in issues but that’s to be expected!! He is a real quality player!

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  25. 25
    Marseille Wolf

    This is all I know…

    Guirane N’DAW Sénégal international defensive midfielder
    Height : 1,90m
    Weight : 79kg

    He won the French League cup and the French FA Cup with Sochaux in 2004 and 2007 as a midfielder. But joined on loan St Etienne last year and they finished 4th from bottom. He played most of the season in central defence.
    I can’t remember him against Marseille, he came on in the 2nd half – and lost 1-nil

    His stats :
    Played 34
    Started 29
    Sub 5
    Goals 0
    Yellow Card 6
    Red Card 0

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  26. 26
    josh

    i agree with the magic wanderer we need 3 or 4 (qaulity) players! 7m for fletcher maybe a bit pricey but he did score 12 goals surrounded by championship players.if he comes to us he,ll be playing with a clever player next to him (doyle) and if we go for hunt and kites get fit he,ll also have there supplies. But its all ifs come on 3ms sort it out.sidwell is a must have

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  27. 27
    Crete Wolf

    The other way to do it is spend less on transfer fees,ie free,bosnan or just reduced fees and spend more on wages.So u dont spend 7 million on a gamble,you spend 7 million on a proven player and pay him…
    50 grand a week is two and a half million over a year,give em a 2 yr contract thats 5 million over the 2 yrs.If your choice is good and you sell him after 2 yrs you get your money back and you have become a established premiership side.You could sign a free or Bosnan and pay 50 grand a week over 3 yrs,thats 7 and half million??Say Doyles on 30 grand a week thats one and a half million a year over 3 yrs thats say 5 million plus his fee six and a half.Thats eleven and a half million over the 3 yrs.Its not going to happen but Joe Cole is on a free????you pays the money and you get what you pay for !!!.You pay him a hundered grand a week,thats 5 million a year for 2 yrs?10 million,less than you payed for doyle or Fletcher??.Up the Wolves.

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  28. 28
    Noisy

    Wombourne – you’d best tell all the Arsenal fans then I believe they thought he came from Senegal. By the way Geudioura’s dad is Algerian – does that count for you – he never seems much fussed to me either. Have I fallen through a time warp?

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  29. 29
    Keeping Real

    Some of you on here need to get your brains tested!
    African players are in a considerable number in all of the English leagues and many of them are damn good players too!
    N’Daw has been chased by a number of PL clubs but for reasons unknown, he has not become a PL player but that does not mean he will not become one in the future, even for Wolves!
    Wolves are rightfully considering a number of possibilities and there will be some players who will be known to all of us and others who will not, so we have place our trust in Mick McCarthy and his team to get things right.
    As for those criticising the E&S for printing stories such as the article above, what would you prefer? – the E&S to write nothing at all and then you would all be moaning about that OR keeping us in touch with the rumours, gossip or whatever at which we can then offer our own opinions through these columns?
    Some of you are never happy!!!
    Finally as for Wolves approaching Bayern for Olic, get your head from under the sand and live in the real world!
    The Olic’s of this life would not even know who Wolves were let alone sign for us!
    Keeping things in perspective is what we have to do. We are not Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea who can attract a player by just saying we are interested. We are still a ‘new’ PL club and we must earn credibility by remaining a PL club for many, many years and then and only then will we be in a position to attract the Olic’s of this world!
    In the meantime the likes of Sidwell, Fletcher or N’Daw are the players we will be chasing, whether they come or not we shall have to see!

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  30. 30
    old gold wolf

    Well said 29
    We are not a big club and the big players will not come here. If they do it would be for the cash for 1 season
    What is wrong with African players?!!
    Why do some on here persist in thinking we can get anyone we want.
    I am happy we are financially stable with only £300k of debt ( best in PL)
    We need to cut our cloth accordingly and get real
    We are a small PL club that need to survive another season
    Until we gat stability in the PL ( if you ever do!!) we need to be creative with our signings

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  31. 31
    Furzwolf

    Just a thought on the wage cap”if it exists”…I believe there should be 2 or 3 levels within the club, one for squad players and one for exceptional players who have performed well over the previous seasons. Therefore the likes of Doyle/Craddock etc would have earned their right to be banded to the next level. It also acts as an incentive to stay at a club as opposed to moving on for an extra 10K a week.

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