Wolverhampton Wanderers have had several extremely profitable sales throughout the years, most recently this summer when the club benefited from the lucrative departures of Matheus Nunes and Rubeus Neves.
The deadline day sale of Nunes brought the Old Gold £53 million, while Neves’ departure to Al-Hilal came in £47 million to help relieve Molineux’s financial limitations.
While the Portuguese duo’s sales this summer topped the rankings in terms of Wolves’ most costly departures, one name jumps out in the top ten as a large sale in the brief Stale Solbakken era.
Steven Fletcher’s move to Sunderland was widely publicised throughout the summer of 2012, as the Old Gold parted ways with their top scorer from the previous season.
How many goals did Steven Fletcher score at Wolves? Signed from Burnley in 2010, Fletcher made an immediate impact at Molineux, scoring 12 goals and recording five assists in 33 appearances in his debut year in the Midlands, followed by another high-scoring feat the following season, when he netted 12 in the Premier League.
The forward was a highly appreciated member of Mick McCarthy’s squad, with the former boss lauding him as “terrific” and a “valuable asset” to have in his ranks at the club.
Unfortunately for both Wolves and Fletcher, things took a turn for the worst in his second campaign, as the Old Gold were relegated to the Championship, and their sharpshooter handed in a formal transfer request.
How much did Wolves sell Steven Fletcher for?
In 2012, Wolves sanctioned a move for Fletcher, as Sunderland purchased the striker for £14m, which looked to be good business after his debut 2012/13 campaign, where he netted 11 goals in the Premier League for the Black Cats.
From then on, it looked more and more of a positive deal from the perspective of the Midlands club, as in the three seasons that followed, the forward scored just 12 goals in the league in total, leading to his eventual exit.
