Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Neill Collins looks set for the Molineux exit after manager Mick McCarthy confirmed he had placed the Scotland international on the transfer list.
Rumours had been circling about the 25-year-old central defender’s future after he was left behind when the club flew out last week for a fortnight’s summer pre-season tour of Australia.
Collins had signed a new four-year-deal earlier this year but has fallen down the pecking order since the club secured promotion to the Barclays Premier League. He had to make way for Michael Mancienne during his thee-month loan spell from Chelsea and then the Scot found himself further out of the manager’s reckoning with the arrival of compatriot, £2.3 million signing Christophe Berra from Hearts.
In this summer’s transfer window manager McCarthy has strengthened his defensive options further by shelling out a reported £3 million on Marseille’s Ronald Zubar which sparked Collins’ impending departure. McCarthy said the player’s first-team opportunities would be severely restricted and he believed allowing him to be sold would be the fairest option. The Wolves’ boss said: “Neill’s been brilliant for us but he needs to go and play football. He has been excellent but hasn’t been in the team and you just need to change things from time to time. Neill will move on, just like Jason Shackell and Darren Ward. I want to sell him – Neill doesn’t want to be going out on loan.”
Collins is popular in the dressing room and McCarthy predicts the player’s star qualities will shine through with him as a perfect potential captain. “There’s nothing in the offing for him yet to my knowledge but he’d get into any Championship side,” he said. “Half of them would make him their captain if he went there.”
