Wolves bag £10m bonus after ex-Molineux stars Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro earned promotion to the Premier League at Leeds and Fulham
- Wolves sold-off ex-players Helder Costa in July and Ivan Cavaleiro in January
- The Molineux side did some start business, included £5m promotion clauses
- Costa went up with Leeds as champions, Cavaleiro with Fulham in the play-offs
- The profits will help them build Nuno Espirito Santo’s small squad this summer
Wolves will net a £10million windfall in promotion bonuses from the transfers of Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro to Leeds and Fulham.
The pair moved to the Championship at the start of last season on initial loan deals that were converted into permanent moves during the campaign: Cavaleiro joined Fulham for about £15m in January, while Costa completed a £16m switch to Leeds in July.
Yet Sportsmail can reveal that both deals contained clauses that guaranteed Wolves extra funds – about £5m per player – if both clubs were promoted. Leeds went up as champions and Fulham joined them after beating Brentford in the play-off final.
Through some shrewd business, Wolves have pocketed £10m to add to their summer budget
Ivan Cavaleiro was sold in January for £15m, with Wolves including a promotion clause
Helder Costa was sold for £16m with the same clause, with both triggered after the season
It represents excellent business for Wolves, who paid about £21m to sign the pair when they were still a Championship club.
This season, Costa made 43 league appearances for Leeds, with Cavaleiro featuring the same number of times for Fulham. Both made significant contributions to their teams’ success.
Wolves boss Nuno Espírito Santo has already made clear that he wants the squad to be strengthened, after his side’s 383-day season finally came to an end on Tuesday when they were beaten by Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Cavaleiro helped Fulham to the Premier League after winning the Championship play-off final
Costa also made it up to the English top-flight after Leeds were promoted as Champions
‘We need more players to help us,’ said Nuno. ‘It’s a small squad.’
Nuno is thought to be targeting up to four players before the transfer window closes in October.
His priorities are a back-up centre-forward, a box-to-box midfielder, left-sided centre-back and a left wing-back.