Wolves ditch move for Henri Lansbury
Wednesday 31st August 2011, 1:00PM BST.
Wolves today ditched plans to pitch for Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury – but are still in the hunt for one transfer deadline day addition.
Chief executive Jez Moxey confirmed that 20-year-old England under 21 international, who was seeking a move from the Emirates Stadium, had been on manager Mick McCarthy’s transfer hit-list.
But Lansbury has completed a loan deal to West Ham after reportedly being courted by Wolves, Blackburn, Norwich and Queens Park Rangers.
Wolves, having worked long and hard this summer to bring an over-abundant playing staff under control with 16 departures, were not willing to upset the balance by bringing in another midfielder without one leaving.
Moxey refused to disclose what player may have departed to make way for Lansbury, but the collapse of transfer proposals surrounding the out-of-favour Nenad Milijas could have been at the heart of the issue.
Lansbury spent last season at Norwich and has been angling for a move, after returning to Arsenal to find to discover Arsene Wenger could offer no future assurances about his first-team prospects.
A £1million permanent deal was available but Wolves and the three rival Premier League clubs were all pursuing a loan agreement.
Moxey said: “Lansbury has been on our radar for a while now. But, in order for us to take the interest any further, it would have involved a space opening up on the roster by a player departing.
“There was a chance that might happen – I’m not going to say who – but that is not now the case.”
But while ruling out any major transfer outlays in the final hours of business, Moxey did not discount a potential recruit through a loan agreement.
He added: “We are still pursuing certain opportunities that have been presented to us.
“Whether or not anything develops from those opportunities remains to be seen.”
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