Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently going through a bad spell on the pitch and off the pitch, things are not going well with the club captain.
Wolves on Wednesday night fell to a 3-0 defeat against Newcastle United, with Alexander Isak scoring twice and teeing up Anthony Gordon as the Toon continued their outstanding recent form.
The match was played without Mario Lemina who has asked Wolves to leave the club in the January transfer window, having been stripped of captaincy by the club’s former boss, Gary O’Neil.
Last season’s player of the year, Lemina started the season as Wolves captain, but was stripped of the armband by Gary O’Neil after his post-match meltdown at West Ham last month.
Mario Lemina of Wolverhampton Wanderers (Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
The former Juventus midfielder has since been linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia and is keen to leave Molineux for a switch to the Middle East. Wolves are understood to want £6million to part with the 31-year-old who told club officials of his desire to move before the January transfer window opened.
Following the match against Newcastle United, Wolves new boss Vitor Pereira noted that Lemina had remained in his plans – until Wednesday.
“I cannot bring a player who tells me he is not in the mental condition to help the team,” said Pereira. “With this commitment, I cannot bring him.
“If a player comes to me and says ‘I’m not in conditions mentally to help the team’ this is something that the club must solve. He wants to leave.
“I don’t know what happened before me, but with this energy and this mentality, I don’t need him. I prefer to play with another player.”
Lemina has played for the likes of Fulham, Southampton and Juventus, he is regarded as one of the best players in Wolves and will have no issue getting a new club.
