Mario Lemina has completed the transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers from Nice for a fee believed to be around £9.7 million. The former Southampton player has agreed to terms on a two-and-a-half-year deal, that could be extended for an extra year.
The 29-year-old Gabonese international joined Southampton in 2017 and spent time on loan at Galatasaray and Fulham. Mario Lemina joined Nice in 2021 and has appeared in 22 games this season, scoring one.
“Mario is a good player,” stated Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui.
“We know him, he wants to be here, and he knows the English league. I think that he has the profile to be a good player for us. That’s why he’s here and I wish him all the best.
“He has the profile to help us to improve and to be able to improve our performance in the next matches.”
Matt Hobbs, the club’s sporting director, stated that the club has been following Mario Lemina for some time.
“He isn’t someone who has come up since Julen came in, he’s a player were able to sign in the past but hasn’t progressed to this point until now. Our scouting team pushed him last summer and the transfer wasn’t possible, but we’re pleased Julen had the same belief in Mario Lemina that we had.
“When the manager came in, he had enquired about the player when he was at Seville, so has had a long-term interest and the club have had a long-term interest, so in some ways it was fate that we were able to do it now.” he says.
Wolves have promised to boost the squad of their new manager, with up to six new arrivals expected this month, albeit not all would be considered regular starts. The club has already signed Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid, and other players on their radar include West Ham defender Craig Dawson, Manchester United full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and PSG attacking midfielder Pablo Sarabia, who spent last season on loan with Sporting Lisbon.
West Ham manager David Moyes stated earlier this week that his team had rejected a bid from Wolves for Dawson. Wolves are 19th in the Premier League and face the fourth-from-bottom Hammers on Saturday at Molineux.