Wolverhampton Wanderers confirm that they have activated their option to sign Manchester City midfielder Tommy Doyle on a permanent basis.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed that they have signed Manchester City midfielder Tommy Doyle on a contract initially until 2028.
At the back end of the summer transfer window, Wolves agreed to sell Matheus Nunes to City in a deal said to be worth in the region of £53m.
City also allowed Doyle to move to Molineux on a season-long loan which came with the option of a permanent transfer, allegedly for £4.3m with a 50% sell-on clause of any profit.
Although the 2023-24 campaign is yet to draw to a close, Wolves have made the decision to push through with the acquisition of the former England Under-21 international.
The deal will formally go through on July 1, subsequently not affecting Wolves when it comes to their accounting period for the 2023-24 campaign.
His name is Tommy Doyle and he’s signed for the Wolves ✍️ pic.twitter.com/JWmbhQpnmH
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 3, 2024
What have Doyle, Wolves had to say?
Having been regularly used by Gary O’Neil throughout this campaign, the 22-year-old has acknowledged that he had expected to stay long term, admitting that remaining in the West Midlands is the best option for him.
Doyle told the club’s official website: “It’s amazing. I’m really happy. I found out not too long ago what’s going to happen and it’s obviously very exciting for me, having enjoyed this season so far, and I’m looking forward to trying to better what we’ve done next season.
“I’ve known for a little while that there were talks, and the other day it was more official. I’ve enjoyed it here, everyone’s been really great with me, the manager, the staff and especially the lads. It’ll be good to battle in the league again with them next season.
“They’re a great set of lads. It’s a very driven group of lads who want to achieve, lads who want to push each other to become better. There’s a lot of things individually and as a team I want to do next season, and this is the best place of me.”
Sporting director Matt Hobbs added: “We’ve never seen Tommy as a player on loan, and he hasn’t acted like one. He’s gradually earned more minutes and become more important, which I think is an ideal first year. What he offers to our midfield is something different to the others, so there was a huge amount of inevitability to this.
“If you look at the type of players we like to sign as a football club, they generally haven’t reached their ceiling yet and have loads more to come. Tommy is a fraction of the player he will become, with the more he gets used to the league and the greater his understanding gets. I’m really excited for now but also his future at Wolves.”
© Reuters
Why have Wolves signed Doyle?
Aside from the rare opportunity to sign a 13-cap England Under-21 international for just £4.3m, Wolves, as mentioned, have been impressed by Doyle’s performances.
A total of 16 starts and 13 substitute outings have been made in all competitions, a total of 1199 minutes of Premier League football coming across 24 appearances.
His solitary goal was a wonder strike during the 1-1 draw at Brentford in the FA Cup third round, but Doyle will remain ineligible to face parent club Man City when the teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.