Nuno vetoed X - where is this coming from?

[Adrian_Monk]

Another week, another report of a potential Wolves signing that was vetoed by Nuno. Discussed here initially on Molineux Mix the 'Podence and Campana over Olmo and Hwang' is not a new revelation, Spiers initially revealed this in an interview with Thelwell when he left for the MLS, but strangely, his latest article via the Athletic changed the tone from 'Thelwell proposed' to 'Nuno vetoed' - a subtle, but crucial difference. Youri Tielemans joining Olmo, Hwang, Cunha, Soumare and Palhinha, and no doubt more to come, is fueling the view someone has it in for either Wolves, Nuno, Jorge or all of the above.

Now I know many will say 'who cares' or 'move on' but regardless of how you feel about the parties involved, it doesn't really sit well with me that stuff like this is being banded around, especially if it is originating from the club themselves. There are a few possible explanations, but none of them seem to make much sense:

Nuno was doing his mate favours

The one that seems to have been picked up on by the twitterati. If Nuno was really forcing Wolves to sign alternative players, ask yourselves the following....

• Does anyone genuinely believe we had a chance of signing Olmo, given he had made it crystal clear he only had eyes for Leipzig?
• Do we think Hwang moving from one Red Bull owned club to another may have been a done deal, in the same way players move through Mendes clubs?! It's not like Keita, Upamecano, Szoboszlai, Gulacsi, Haidara, Reyna, Bernardo, Laimer, Wolf and many others haven't set a pretty obvious precedent
• Olmo joined Leipzig for around £20m, Hwang for around £10m. We paid £16m for Podence and £300k for Campana. Do we really think it was Nuno turned down both players, during a season where our failure to break-even resulted in an FFP fine with UEFA, and the requirement to trim our squad, or that perhaps the signing of both players wouldn't have been within budget?
• Tielemans joined Leicester in January 2019 in a loan swap with Adrien Silva and subsequently cost around £40m. That was our first season in the top flight and we'd already spent, or committed to spending, £19m on Jonny, £16m on Patricio, £12m on Jota, £10m on Boly, £10m on Afobe, £5m on Moutinho, £3.5m on Bonatini, £36m (including loan fee) on Raul, £2m on Vinagre, £18m on Traore and £14m on Dendoncker. Given we spent only marginally more than that on four players the following summer (Neto, Cutrone, Jordao and Podence) what do we think is more likely, that he said no to Tielemans, or that the transfer 'committee' collectively opted to bring in more bodies, given we had qualified for European football and Nuno had gone on record to say he would be open to working with a bigger squad should that eventuality arise?
• Why is the emphasis over Jorge's involvement now being shifted to Nuno? Fosun are the ones a financial interest in Gestifute, and were favouring Mendes clients long before Nuno came - Silvio, Teixeira, Cavaleiro and Costa were all major acquisitions pre-Nuno, and since he left we've appointed Lage, signed Sa and Trincao. Nuno has no more to gain than Fosun

The club is leaking it to deflect a weak transfer window / supporter unrest, or to undermine Nuno, knowing contractually he's bound to silence

• More plausible perhaps, but the first leak occurred whilst Nuno was still manager and Podence was and still is a first-team player. Whether true or not, how would that have helped Wolves' season, or Podence's morale?
• The leak actually places more pressure on Fosun, as it makes it look like they were hoodwinked by Nuno, which would suggest naivety on their part - do we really think a ruthless conglomerate would allow one person to dictate strategy? Xi Jinping aside, obviously!
• It's potentially inflammatory to Mendes - why would Wolves risk fanning the flames when our strategic alignment has been, and continues to be, pivotal to our expansion plans?

Journalists are clickbaiting

• Definitely plausible, but it seems all to convenient that it has come from Spiers - who is at a known conduit to the fan base - the people most influenced by this, and Percy, whose contacts at Wolves include the agent of a midfielder turned centre back who isn't Saiss . The timing is also a little convenient - even before the ink was dry on Nuno's NDA, Spiers was at it on the Athletic, and Percy's latest bombshell was days before Nuno returned with Spurs
• It doesn't massively help Spiers or Percy if it's publicity the club didn't want

Sellars, Thelwell, Atkins, Laurie or AN. Other current/former employee(s) is/are firing anonymous shots

• Thelwell leaving was unexpected, especially as he'd been promoted only a year or so before. Could he be firing shots from a safe distance, knowing it makes him look better in retrospect as his career peters out in New York? Who knows.
• Laurie's exit was supposedly not a cuddle-fest, Atkins left as a cost-cutting exercise - when you're as big as Fosun, you're bound to make enemies - could it be another former employee stirring the cauldron? A bit far-fetched, but this is football....

If it genuinely was the case, why air your dirty laundry in public in this way, as it is utterly classless. If you're reading this Jeff, and you're behind it, quit while you're ahead. If we have a crap transfer with it just own it, don't try and deflect by talking trash about former staff - it stinks.
If it was the case, but has been manipulated to only include part of the facts, what do Fosun have to gain?
If it wasn't the case, and, for example, Jorge had already told the club 'no chance' on certain transfers (Olmo, for example) where he had better market knowledge, again what do the club have to gain from this?
How about we hear the players proposed that we didn't sign that haven't gone on to be great signings for their respective clubs?

What does everyone think? I can't get my head around any of it. Nobody wins from stuff like this. Whatever the reason, it's unwelcome, and something else for Bruno to deal with to keep focus on moving forward instead of continuing to look back....

 

[OLDGOLD]

Adrian, I am sure this is a lovely well thought out post, but I am on leave this week and well down an absolutely lethal mojito, so, for that reason I am out....

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Maybe it's just the truth? I think Nuno trusted Mendes over the scouting team. The idea he is infallible and couldn't have ****ed up on transfers is funny. People like to pretend Fosun have an absolute iron grip on information but they clearly don't (don't you have a number of sources?). I don't believe Olmo, I do Tielemans for the record. Another Mendes club as well.

 

[Wolfy McWolf-Face]

Didn't Percy say it?

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Maybe it's just the truth? I think Nuno trusted Mendes over the scouting team. The idea he is infallible and couldn't have ****ed up on transfers is funny. People like to pretend Fosun have an absolute iron grip on information but they clearly don't (don't you have a number of sources?). I don't believe Olmo, I do Tielemans for the record. Another Mendes club as well.

You could be right. No manager gets it right every time. I find it odd that he'd favour Campana over Hwang then never play him. Tielemans I think is true, but I doubt it's quite as clear-cut as is being made out in Percy's article - more likely is they had an eye on the numbers and realised a better bet would be to try and develop Dendoncker at half the price.

The bigger issue is not whether or not he made the mistake, but why it's being leaked, and why now. Doesn't sit well with me. I don't have any contacts at Wolves any more sadly - one left, another is at another club that works with Mendes.

 

[GY Wolf]

Well, I suppose it's got to be one of those things

 

[rg4352]

Could the answer just be it’s the truth, and now Nuno has left, journalists and the source themselves feel like it’s a safer platform for this info to be out there? If you are a journalist hearing negative things about a manager of the club you hope to regularly get info/interviews with and who appears to be a much lauded figure across the wider fan base, surely you would feel more comfortable writing these things when that person had left rather than when they are still in post?

I had heard a couple of things about Nuno that didn’t shed him in a great light at all, but no way would I have posted any of them while he was still here, I’d have most likely been labelled a WUM/troll/liar and slagged off, and despite hearing those things, I respect he did a great job to get us to where we are. I also wouldn’t want to put my friends job in jeopardy as wolves do read things on this site - the fact things have started to slip out now he has left, maybe is due to the fact repercussions perhaps are less likely?

 

[Manic88]

Some people are going to be in for a hard season if they don’t managed to get control of their emotions re:Nuno

 

[cobweb]

It's simple. Fosun are interested in money going back to China the end.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

The timing makes me think it's to deflect.

In Percy's article it mentioned this: 'a club hierarchy who were already frustrated that the club's successes were largely attributed to the manager. They felt it was more of a team effort, which was not recognised'.

Erm, what is all that about? Why do we have such egos at the club? Why do they care that they aren't getting praise? It's about Wolves doing well.

They're clearly a bit bitter that Nuno got all the credit for our rise and I do see the point, because it was as if he did transform us when really he was backed significantly, but, again, who cares?

It's clearly from someone within the club because it's all about good players. Olmo, Tielemans etc. Quite convenient that Nuno only wanted to block the great signings.

It's pretty classless from Wolves, especially on the day of the game and it's why I said that they will spin negative stories about Traore.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Some people are going to be in for a hard season if they don’t managed to get control of their emotions re:Nuno

Valid point, and I must stress, not the justification for the post. I've not hidden my admiration of the job Nuno did, but this is less about Nuno and more about the principles, and how it will influence our future. Aurora gave us an insight, if we needed it, on the Chinese culture for selective censorship, and that's not something I want to see at Wolves - either say everything or say nothing

 

[NottsWolves]

The timing makes me think it's to deflect.

In Percy's article it mentioned this: 'a club hierarchy who were already frustrated that the club's successes were largely attributed to the manager. They felt it was more of a team effort, which was not recognised'.

Erm, what is all that about? Why do we have such egos at the club? Why do they care that they aren't getting praise? It's about Wolves doing well.

They're clearly a bit bitter that Nuno got all the credit for our rise and I do see the point, because it was as if he did transform us when really he was backed significantly, but, again, who cares?

It's clearly from someone within the club because it's all about good players. Olmo, Tielemans etc. Quite convenient that Nuno only wanted to block the great signings.

It's pretty classless from Wolves, especially on the day of the game and it's why I said that they will spin negative stories about Traore.

While I don’t disagree. I’m currently in a situation whereby senior managers are taking the credit for work that isn’t theirs. A one off is fine but it’s incredibly frustrating when it’s done all the time. May seem petty but these things can build up.

Who’s to say they are being bitter or perhaps felt they didn’t get the recognition they deserved.

In my situation I’ve found that the truth does finally come out. But there are ways a means, this can look bitter and childish.

 

[Deleted member 7862Bler]

Another week, another report of a potential Wolves signing that was vetoed by Nuno. Discussed here initially on Molineux Mix the 'Podence and Campana over Olmo and Hwang' is not a new revelation, Spiers initially revealed this in an interview with Thelwell when he left for the MLS, but strangely, his latest article via the Athletic changed the tone from 'Thelwell proposed' to 'Nuno vetoed' - a subtle, but crucial difference. Youri Tielemans joining Olmo, Hwang, Cunha, Soumare and Palhinha, and no doubt more to come, is fueling the view someone has it in for either Wolves, Nuno, Jorge or all of the above.

Now I know many will say 'who cares' or 'move on' but regardless of how you feel about the parties involved, it doesn't really sit well with me that stuff like this is being banded around, especially if it is originating from the club themselves. There are a few possible explanations, but none of them seem to make much sense:

Nuno was doing his mate favours

The one that seems to have been picked up on by the twitterati. If Nuno was really forcing Wolves to sign alternative players, ask yourselves the following....

• Does anyone genuinely believe we had a chance of signing Olmo, given he had made it crystal clear he only had eyes for Leipzig?
• Do we think Hwang moving from one Red Bull owned club to another may have been a done deal, in the same way players move through Mendes clubs?! It's not like Keita, Upamecano, Szoboszlai, Gulacsi, Haidara, Reyna, Bernardo, Laimer, Wolf and many others haven't set a pretty obvious precedent
• Olmo joined Leipzig for around £20m, Hwang for around £10m. We paid £16m for Podence and £300k for Campana. Do we really think it was Nuno turned down both players, during a season where our failure to break-even resulted in an FFP fine with UEFA, and the requirement to trim our squad, or that perhaps the signing of both players wouldn't have been within budget?
• Tielemans joined Leicester in January 2019 in a loan swap with Adrien Silva and subsequently cost around £40m. That was our first season in the top flight and we'd already spent, or committed to spending, £19m on Jonny, £16m on Patricio, £12m on Jota, £10m on Boly, £10m on Afobe, £5m on Moutinho, £3.5m on Bonatini, £36m (including loan fee) on Raul, £2m on Vinagre, £18m on Traore and £14m on Dendoncker. Given we spent only marginally more than that on four players the following summer (Neto, Cutrone, Jordao and Podence) what do we think is more likely, that he said no to Tielemans, or that the transfer 'committee' collectively opted to bring in more bodies, given we had qualified for European football and Nuno had gone on record to say he would be open to working with a bigger squad should that eventuality arise?
• Why is the emphasis over Jorge's involvement now being shifted to Nuno? Fosun are the ones a financial interest in Gestifute, and were favouring Mendes clients long before Nuno came - Silvio, Teixeira, Cavaleiro and Costa were all major acquisitions pre-Nuno, and since he left we've appointed Lage, signed Sa and Trincao. Nuno has no more to gain than Fosun

The club is leaking it to deflect a weak transfer window / supporter unrest, or to undermine Nuno, knowing contractually he's bound to silence

• More plausible perhaps, but the first leak occurred whilst Nuno was still manager and Podence was and still is a first-team player. Whether true or not, how would that have helped Wolves' season, or Podence's morale?
• The leak actually places more pressure on Fosun, as it makes it look like they were hoodwinked by Nuno, which would suggest naivety on their part - do we really think a ruthless conglomerate would allow one person to dictate strategy? Xi Jinping aside, obviously!
• It's potentially inflammatory to Mendes - why would Wolves risk fanning the flames when our strategic alignment has been, and continues to be, pivotal to our expansion plans?

Journalists are clickbaiting

• Definitely plausible, but it seems all to convenient that it has come from Spiers - who is at a known conduit to the fan base - the people most influenced by this, and Percy, whose contacts at Wolves include the agent of a midfielder turned centre back who isn't Saiss . The timing is also a little convenient - even before the ink was dry on Nuno's NDA, Spiers was at it on the Athletic, and Percy's latest bombshell was days before Nuno returned with Spurs
• It doesn't massively help Spiers or Percy if it's publicity the club didn't want

Sellars, Thelwell, Atkins, Laurie or AN. Other current/former employee(s) is/are firing anonymous shots

• Thelwell leaving was unexpected, especially as he'd been promoted only a year or so before. Could he be firing shots from a safe distance, knowing it makes him look better in retrospect as his career peters out in New York? Who knows.
• Laurie's exit was supposedly not a cuddle-fest, Atkins left as a cost-cutting exercise - when you're as big as Fosun, you're bound to make enemies - could it be another former employee stirring the cauldron? A bit far-fetched, but this is football....

If it genuinely was the case, why air your dirty laundry in public in this way, as it is utterly classless. If you're reading this Jeff, and you're behind it, quit while you're ahead. If we have a crap transfer with it just own it, don't try and deflect by talking trash about former staff - it stinks.
If it was the case, but has been manipulated to only include part of the facts, what do Fosun have to gain?
If it wasn't the case, and, for example, Jorge had already told the club 'no chance' on certain transfers (Olmo, for example) where he had better market knowledge, again what do the club have to gain from this?
How about we hear the players proposed that we didn't sign that haven't gone on to be great signings for their respective clubs?

What does everyone think? I can't get my head around any of it. Nobody wins from stuff like this. Whatever the reason, it's unwelcome, and something else for Bruno to deal with to keep focus on moving forward instead of continuing to look back....

I read 2 sentences and gave up.

 

[MattH]

It's surely got to be coming from within the club, presumably to "settle the score" given the common opinion was that we were simply not interested in the likes of Olmo. Pretty benign thing to leak really, given the other rumours around Nuno being an **** behind the scenes etc.

 

[Stoichkov]

Another week, another report of a potential Wolves signing that was vetoed by Nuno. Discussed here initially on Molineux Mix the 'Podence and Campana over Olmo and Hwang' is not a new revelation, Spiers initially revealed this in an interview with Thelwell when he left for the MLS, but strangely, his latest article via the Athletic changed the tone from 'Thelwell proposed' to 'Nuno vetoed' - a subtle, but crucial difference. Youri Tielemans joining Olmo, Hwang, Cunha, Soumare and Palhinha, and no doubt more to come, is fueling the view someone has it in for either Wolves, Nuno, Jorge or all of the above.

Now I know many will say 'who cares' or 'move on' but regardless of how you feel about the parties involved, it doesn't really sit well with me that stuff like this is being banded around, especially if it is originating from the club themselves. There are a few possible explanations, but none of them seem to make much sense:

Nuno was doing his mate favours

The one that seems to have been picked up on by the twitterati. If Nuno was really forcing Wolves to sign alternative players, ask yourselves the following....

• Does anyone genuinely believe we had a chance of signing Olmo, given he had made it crystal clear he only had eyes for Leipzig?
• Do we think Hwang moving from one Red Bull owned club to another may have been a done deal, in the same way players move through Mendes clubs?! It's not like Keita, Upamecano, Szoboszlai, Gulacsi, Haidara, Reyna, Bernardo, Laimer, Wolf and many others haven't set a pretty obvious precedent
• Olmo joined Leipzig for around £20m, Hwang for around £10m. We paid £16m for Podence and £300k for Campana. Do we really think it was Nuno turned down both players, during a season where our failure to break-even resulted in an FFP fine with UEFA, and the requirement to trim our squad, or that perhaps the signing of both players wouldn't have been within budget?
• Tielemans joined Leicester in January 2019 in a loan swap with Adrien Silva and subsequently cost around £40m. That was our first season in the top flight and we'd already spent, or committed to spending, £19m on Jonny, £16m on Patricio, £12m on Jota, £10m on Boly, £10m on Afobe, £5m on Moutinho, £3.5m on Bonatini, £36m (including loan fee) on Raul, £2m on Vinagre, £18m on Traore and £14m on Dendoncker. Given we spent only marginally more than that on four players the following summer (Neto, Cutrone, Jordao and Podence) what do we think is more likely, that he said no to Tielemans, or that the transfer 'committee' collectively opted to bring in more bodies, given we had qualified for European football and Nuno had gone on record to say he would be open to working with a bigger squad should that eventuality arise?
• Why is the emphasis over Jorge's involvement now being shifted to Nuno? Fosun are the ones a financial interest in Gestifute, and were favouring Mendes clients long before Nuno came - Silvio, Teixeira, Cavaleiro and Costa were all major acquisitions pre-Nuno, and since he left we've appointed Lage, signed Sa and Trincao. Nuno has no more to gain than Fosun

The club is leaking it to deflect a weak transfer window / supporter unrest, or to undermine Nuno, knowing contractually he's bound to silence

• More plausible perhaps, but the first leak occurred whilst Nuno was still manager and Podence was and still is a first-team player. Whether true or not, how would that have helped Wolves' season, or Podence's morale?
• The leak actually places more pressure on Fosun, as it makes it look like they were hoodwinked by Nuno, which would suggest naivety on their part - do we really think a ruthless conglomerate would allow one person to dictate strategy? Xi Jinping aside, obviously!
• It's potentially inflammatory to Mendes - why would Wolves risk fanning the flames when our strategic alignment has been, and continues to be, pivotal to our expansion plans?

Journalists are clickbaiting

• Definitely plausible, but it seems all to convenient that it has come from Spiers - who is at a known conduit to the fan base - the people most influenced by this, and Percy, whose contacts at Wolves include the agent of a midfielder turned centre back who isn't Saiss . The timing is also a little convenient - even before the ink was dry on Nuno's NDA, Spiers was at it on the Athletic, and Percy's latest bombshell was days before Nuno returned with Spurs
• It doesn't massively help Spiers or Percy if it's publicity the club didn't want

Sellars, Thelwell, Atkins, Laurie or AN. Other current/former employee(s) is/are firing anonymous shots

• Thelwell leaving was unexpected, especially as he'd been promoted only a year or so before. Could he be firing shots from a safe distance, knowing it makes him look better in retrospect as his career peters out in New York? Who knows.
• Laurie's exit was supposedly not a cuddle-fest, Atkins left as a cost-cutting exercise - when you're as big as Fosun, you're bound to make enemies - could it be another former employee stirring the cauldron? A bit far-fetched, but this is football....

If it genuinely was the case, why air your dirty laundry in public in this way, as it is utterly classless. If you're reading this Jeff, and you're behind it, quit while you're ahead. If we have a crap transfer with it just own it, don't try and deflect by talking trash about former staff - it stinks.
If it was the case, but has been manipulated to only include part of the facts, what do Fosun have to gain?
If it wasn't the case, and, for example, Jorge had already told the club 'no chance' on certain transfers (Olmo, for example) where he had better market knowledge, again what do the club have to gain from this?
How about we hear the players proposed that we didn't sign that haven't gone on to be great signings for their respective clubs?

What does everyone think? I can't get my head around any of it. Nobody wins from stuff like this. Whatever the reason, it's unwelcome, and something else for Bruno to deal with to keep focus on moving forward instead of continuing to look back....

john percy is probably seen as the most trusted national journo covering wolves and therefore *probably* gets briefed occasionally by someone senior at the club. they place stuff to try and rebalance the outpouring of grief and rising anti fosun sentiment since Nuno left. No biggie, happens everywhere and fair enough that Fosun want to present their side of the story

i haven't read your entire post, sorry - but they wouldn't make this stuff up, if this is what's happening... although there's probably two sides to every story eg were we really likely to sign Olmo?

i wouldn't worry too much about it. fact and fiction mix everywhere in the world of PR and spin. in my humble opinion, best to just stick to what actually happens and try not to over-think stuff

 

[Timberwolf]

Bit of confirmation bias flooding Mol Mix at the moment.
Unless Jeff, Nuno or Bruno says it on the record, it’s hearsay, speculation and guesswork.
The posters that think everything negative written about Wolves MUST be true, really need to give their heads a wobble.

 

[bod101]

Personally I would lean towards the click bait end of things.

 

[SuperGran]

Personally I would lean towards the click bait end of things.

Especially given the perfect timing of the article

 

[Contrarian]

The timing makes me think it's to deflect.

In Percy's article it mentioned this: 'a club hierarchy who were already frustrated that the club's successes were largely attributed to the manager. They felt it was more of a team effort, which was not recognised'.

Erm, what is all that about? Why do we have such egos at the club? Why do they care that they aren't getting praise? It's about Wolves doing well.

They're clearly a bit bitter that Nuno got all the credit for our rise and I do see the point, because it was as if he did transform us when really he was backed significantly, but, again, who cares?

It's clearly from someone within the club because it's all about good players. Olmo, Tielemans etc. Quite convenient that Nuno only wanted to block the great signings.

It's pretty classless from Wolves, especially on the day of the game and it's why I said that they will spin negative stories about Traore.

That part about the manager taking credit for the success sounds totally daft in many ways. For one, Nuno was meticulous in sharing success, "stay humble" and all that. His public persona at least, was far less egotistical than the vast majority of managers. Nuno did not take the glory himself and if the media focussed on him, well that isn't Nuno's fault.

Who's still there and who got dumped? It's always the manager who gets the blame, so I don't see why he shouldn't take credit anyway.... look at that first season where we had Fosun but no Nuno, it was a shambles.

And I've seen no sign that any of the "club heirarchy" are desperate for glory, too. It doesn't ring true. I think this is a clickbait article.

 

[wwbug]

My feeling is if Fosun were prepared to buy these players but didn’t then there is a chance we will buy these types in the near future. If not it is surely bull**** .

 

[Flump]

A brilliant OP.

My gut feeling is that it's a combination of a few things. Fosun/Jeff/Someone at the club wanting to change the narrative a bit - leaking negative things about Nuno makes the decision to get rid more clear cut.

Then there's a ridiculous echo chamber on here where people believe any old pap (as you've pointed out with Olmo) as long as it fits their biases, and repeat it until it becomes accepted as common knowledge.

Also, there's a general view from a lot of people that you just "go and get" a player, perhaps from playing too much Football Manager, or too much lecturing people about what they'd do, whereby they forget that Wolves aren't competing in a vaccuum, and that basically, if a CL club comes in for a Wolves target, we don't have much of a hope of getting them, through no fault of Nuno/Thelwell/Sellers/Vinny/Whoever the flavour of the month public enemy is.

 

[Dan G WWFC]

I have heard from the same person that told me about Netos injury that transfers was down to Nuno and the scouting team including Therwel got frustrated with Nuno constantly picking Mendes over them.

It also isn't as crazy as you think. Teams recruit using 3 things, analysis, scouting and agents. Most teams focus more on one then the others. One of Arsenal's main issue is they can't work out what works best for them

 

[WickedWolfie]

Valid point, and I must stress, not the justification for the post. I've not hidden my admiration of the job Nuno did, but this is less about Nuno and more about the principles, and how it will influence our future. Aurora gave us an insight, if we needed it, on the Chinese culture for selective censorship, and that's not something I want to see at Wolves - either say everything or say nothing

Particularly if the club are selectively leaking while Nuno is blocked from comment under a non-disclosure agreement.

 

[Howler]

The Olmo one cuts deep for Kevin, he had been scouting him for years....he wanted the move to happen a year before he ended up leaving Zagreb for Germany, I'm not convinced it was Nuno that flat out said no but someone above Kevin certainly did.