Jelle van Damme to join Standard Liege

Wolverhampton Wanderers has confirmed the club has reached an agreement with Standard Liege that will see defender Jelle van Damme returning to Belgium.

Van Damme joined the Premier League side on a three-year contract in the summer. However, he has since told the club of his desire to move away as he cannot cope with the life and demands of playing English
football.

“We can confirm that we have agreed a deal for the transfer of Jelle van Damme to Standard Liege subject to the
paperwork being completed over the next 48 hours,” Wolves CEO Jez Moxey told the club’s website.

Some have questioned the defender’s choice to move to England in the first place if he was a little unsure over whether it was the right move. The deal is a simple one, which
will allow him to return to his home country as soon as the deal is officially done.

“Once the deal goes through Jelle will leave us with immediate effect, but will
not be able to play for Standard Liege until the transfer window re-opens on January 1 and international clearance is granted,” added Moxey.

The deal seems a good move all round because it’s effectively a reverse of what Wolves paid Anderlecht for the player. This means the club will be compensated in full for a
player that many expected to be around England for a long time.

“The agreement has been struck in exactly the same way as when we brought Jelle
to the club from Anderlecht in June, meaning we receive the entire fee in the same way as we paid it,” said Moxey.

No one deserves any blame in this saga because it’s pointless for the club to force a player to stay when he clearly has no intention of doing so.

Betting advice

The Wolves defence will be a little light now that it’s been confirmed van Damme is on his way out of England. However, manager Mick McCarthy is very experienced and will get
his side playing intense football to scrape enough points for survival.