Wolves dealt £25m Bristol City transfer blow after Julen Lopetegui admission

Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui admits they are struggling to afford transfer targets, which could rule them out of the race for Bristol City's Alex Scott.

Last week, Football Insider claimed that the Midlands club were 'close' to signing Scott, however a move to Molineux now looks unlikely, given they may not be able to compete financially with their Premier League rivals. Wolves are said to have had a bid of £20m with add-ons rejected, but as the Robins hold out for £25m for the 19-year-old, Wolves may have to accept defeat.

Their manager Lopetegui has had to just watch on as the club has sold some of their biggest stars, like Ruben Neves' move to Saudi Arabia, whilst Connor Coady moved down a division to Leicester City. Wolves are also clinging on to defender Max Kilman with both Napoli and Spurs interested, with the Italian club hoping that the price will drop. It was hoped by the ex-Real Madrid boss that Wolves could at least target Championship players and Scott was at their top of their list, but now that avenue looks to be closing on them also.

“I came here with a project and an idea to be able to save the team and be able to improve...[but] it was bad news for me,” Lopetegui told Spanish journalist Guillem Balague.

“I tried in the summer and this was Plan A. We went to Plan B, trying to think about cost-effective players, but it’s true we can’t develop this plan, too.

“I know the sporting director, Matt Hobbs, and the recruitment team have worked very hard to have a Plan A and a Plan B, but unfortunately we can’t develop these plans.

“We were excited by this new plan but now we don’t have this plan. It is not just for me but the sporting director also, a big disappointment.”

Despite the ongoing speculation, Scott remains a Bristol City player, and has been a model professional. He has delivered a string of good performances in pre-season, putting in some leading displays at the High Performance Centre, which has earned praise off of the opposition.

AFC Bournemouth are the other club who hold a strong interest in Scott, but are hopeful that City's £25m demands will be lowered or that there will be a workaround. The two clubs were able to thrash out a deal for Antoine Semenyo back in January that suited all parties, and there is a hope on the Cherries part that a compromise could be met.

Bournemouth have been busy in the transfer market and have spent fees on all their new arrivals with attacking midfielder Hamed Traore joining, along with Justin Kluivert, Romain Faivre, Milos Kerkez and Ionut Radu. Traore's arrival from Sassuolo means Scott would not be a guaranteed starter should he move to the Vitality Stadium, but that his age and his potential would fit in to the transfer strategy that is being built under Andoni Iraola.