Craig Dawson and Sasa Kalajdzic latest - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00So, hello I'm Nathan Tudor, I'm here with Wolves reporter Mr Liam Keane. Liam, I have
00:12some interesting news on Craig Dawson today at the Vita Pereira. Explain, well we're not
00:16going to be seeing Craig Dawson as a Wolves player, he's probably played his last game
00:19for the club. Most likely, yes. Obviously we're bringing Nasser Jigar in, Wolves have
00:26Craig Dawson, we understand, is at the bottom of that list. Vita Pereira, as much as he
00:32said he respects the player, did say that he made it clear to the club and clear to
00:35the player that he's not going to have a space in my squad, in my team, there needs to be
00:39a solution to that. Now, he hasn't left in the transfer window, his contract hasn't been
00:44cancelled in the transfer window, which means he cannot currently play or go move to an
00:49English club. However, the player has been revealed, the player and the club ring talks
00:54about potentially cancelling that contract and if that contract does get cancelled and
00:57he becomes a free agent, he will be free to go abroad or wait until the summer, of course.
01:03So, there is talk and there is movement to potentially move Craig Dawson before, well
01:08imminently, before the end of the season. His contract's up in the summer anyway, so
01:12they could obviously hang fire and do that, but they may find a financial package that
01:15works for the player and the club and he may move on. And if he can find a club abroad
01:19that he wants to go to, he's almost 35, 35 in May I think it is, then he needs to find
01:25the next step of his career as well. So, big news, albeit maybe not the most surprising
01:30because if he's not going to play and Wolves aren't necessarily going to need him in terms
01:35of numbers, then the player needs to find a future as well.
01:38What's the benefit for Wolves though? I understand that he's not in Vito Pereira's imminent plans
01:42and he hasn't been for many weeks and months now, but at the same time, six months to go,
01:48he's a senior player. We can discuss at length maybe after this has happened about how he
01:54is in that dressing room, but at the same time Liam, if Wolves have two or three bad
01:59injuries or a couple of injuries there, then Craig Dawson is someone who might not be starting
02:05but could be very, very useful from the bench. So, it seems a bit of a strange timing, especially
02:10like you say, when this transfer window is finished, for him to do this and for Wolves
02:14to be in negotiations for him to potentially cancel his contract.
02:17Yeah, we obviously know they tried to sort of deal with him and Cody, Leicester, that
02:21didn't happen. There was work to try and move him on on that deadline day as well, didn't
02:25happen.
02:26And if Connor Cody did come, you would think he'd be in the same situation as Craig Dawson
02:30so he probably wouldn't be needed or might be the very odd game, but he still would have
02:33had a defender for a defender.
02:35Yeah, and he brings a very different sort of characteristics off the field to Cody in
02:39terms of that leadership and those kind of qualities which Wolves need and are important.
02:44For Dawson, they might be able to find a package where they can pay him off partly and not
02:49the whole contract perhaps, depending on the player's sort of desperation to go. But also
02:54in terms of atmosphere and culture, you don't want necessarily, and I'm not suggesting he
02:58will make any issues, but to have a player that wants to go, similar to Lamina's situation.
03:03And if he's not playing, you would imagine Dawson would want to go and try and get some
03:06minutes somewhere. It depends on his opportunities elsewhere as well with other clubs abroad.
03:11But it's a shame they weren't able to do something in the window because it would have
03:14given Dawson more options, either finding a club or going to another English club as
03:19a free agent. But as it stands, they're going to try and find a solution for it.
03:22Yeah, I mean, in terms of Mario Lamina and Craig Dawson, I think that Craig Dawson has
03:26a lot more credit in the bank when he's leaving, at least on his exit potentially, than Mario
03:29Lamina did. And when you look back at Craig Dawson as a Wolves player, you talk about
03:33that signing from West Ham United, it's actually been a very, very good signing, hasn't it,
03:37for the money he came?
03:38Just over three million, wasn't it, at the time. And he's been excellent. I mean, obviously
03:42the last few months have not been anywhere near his best, but he's been a player that
03:46they needed him at the time, and he was a big player on the pitch for Wolves. And he
03:49played a massive part in keeping them in the league, played a massive part last season.
03:52And I don't think that can be understated. He was a really, really important part of
03:55this team. But he does now, as you say, look like his Wolves career is coming to an end.
04:00And then very quickly as well, I'd be interested in the future of his, I suppose his Wolves
04:04future, Wolves career, because he is the player, it's been confirmed, who will be coming
04:09off that Premier League registered squad. He will not play for the club in the Premier
04:13League between now and the end of the season.
04:14It would be disappointing, wouldn't it, as much as Peter Pereira said that he understood
04:17the explanation. I think he wanted to potentially be in...
04:19And it's a bad injury, he said.
04:20It's a bad injury, but he probably wanted to be in action before the end of the season,
04:23you'd have thought.
04:24Yeah, he's not quite there yet. He's had two of these bad injuries back to back. So I understand
04:27it from the club's point of view, and they need, a player has to come off. But also,
04:32Colliderich will want to come back against the Minutes, and that's not going to happen
04:35now. So it was a big decision Wolves had to make, but to bring the signings in, it was
04:38something they had to do.
04:39Is his Wolves future in doubt, would you say?
04:41I think it has to be. I mean, when you have those kind of injuries, obviously he went
04:43on loan last winter as well. I think it has to be. If you have these kind of big injuries
04:50and he hasn't really hit the ground running in the Premier League, it's difficult to say
04:53that there is a guaranteed Wolves career there. Does he offer something? Yes. Is he going
04:58to be under this manager at this club?
04:59I'm not sure.
05:00That's all the latest news on Craig Dawson and Sasha Colliderich. For all the most recent
05:04updates, make sure you log on to expressandstyle.com.