Wolverhampton Wanderers sporting director Matt Hobbs is delighted to have ended a six-month transfer pursuit for West Ham United defender Craig Dawson.
The veteran defender completed a move to Molineux in a £3.3million deal this weekend. Wolves remained interested in the Hammers centre-back after failing to complete a deal in the summer transfer window.
West Ham received a bid from the West Midlands club before the two sides were due to meet at Molineux last Saturday (January 14), with Dawson being left out of the Irons matchday squad for the fixture.
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After completing the deal, Wolves sporting director Hobbs said: “Everyone will be aware it’s a signing we tried to do last window and it fell through in the end because the replacement West Ham were looking at fell through. Craig [Dawson] has wanted to come here for the last six months, so it’s something we’ve kept warm and kept in touch on.
“His family are in the north of England, so for him it’s great to get closer to them. He’s a player we’ve wanted for a while, so it was great to get it done, even if it’s six months later than we wanted, but it’s good to get here now.”
At 32, Dawson has a wealth of Premier League experience after spells with West Bromwich Albion, Watford and the Hammers. The defender has played almost 250 games in the top-flight and leaves West Ham with a total of 87 appearances since joining from Watford, on loan initially in October 2020 before making a permanent move to the London Stadium the following summer.
“In my first interview, I talked about players who know the league are important. Personalities are important. We lost a few leaders in the summer with John [Ruddy], Conor [Coady] and Romain [Saiss]," said Hobbs
“We’re bringing another leader into the group, which is always a positive, but if you look at our centre backs, they're all relatively young, not just in age, but also the number of games they’ve played in English league football, let alone the Premier League.
“The amount of games Craig has played, he can be a foil for those guys on and off the pitch. He’s going to be a very good player for our squad and will be someone our young centre halves will learn a lot from and will help develop those players.”
Although Wolves' interest in Dawson started before Julen Lopetegui succeeded Bruno Lage as manager in November, the defender had already caught the Spaniard’s eye during West Ham’s run to the Europa League semi-finals last season. The Hammers defeated a Sevilla side managed by Lopetegui in the last 16, with Dawson shining in both legs.
Hobbs added: “He’s a player Julen [Lopetegui] knew very well, so, like the players we’ve managed to do so far, it was a very quick discussion on Craig from both of our sides.”
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