Wolves ready to offload Otto for cut-price £2.5m – AHEAD OF THE GAME

Wolves have made former club record signing Jonny Otto available for a cut-price £2.5million this month as they seek to offload the exiled defender. 

The Spaniard has been banished from first-team sessions and facilities by Gary O’Neil since an extraordinary incident in training last month, in which he elbowed team-mate Tawanda Chirewa and spat at a member of the coaching staff who was attempting to restrain him, before going on to vandalise an area of the players’ room after he was finally removed from the pitch. 

Wolves paid Celta Vigo a then club record £18m for Jonny following a successful loan spell four years ago, but the club are prepared to take a major loss on the former Spanish international despite the fact that he has 18 months left on his contract.

Defender Jonny Otto was banished by Wolves boss Gary O’Neil after extraordinary fall-out

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Brentford resigned to losing Toney

Brentford have yet to offer a new contract to Ivan Toney despite the fact that the England striker has entered the last 18 months of his existing deal. 

Toney remains on the same contract he signed when joining Brentford from Peterborough four years ago and is expected to attract interest from Arsenal and Chelsea this month even though he has not played since last May due to his betting ban. 

Brentford are confident they can keep hold of Toney for the rest of the season, but their failure to discuss new terms suggests they are resigned to losing him in the summer. 

The 27-year-old’s ban expires on 17 January which could present a timely boost to Brentford, who have lost their last five Premier League games and fallen into the thick of the relegation battle. 

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has just 18 months left on his current deal and the club are resigned to losing him in the summer

No match for US deal

Women’s Super League clubs should not get too excited about the prospect of matching the new £200million TV contract secured by the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States when the auction for this country’s domestic TV rights place takes place this month, as that extraordinary deal is not all it appears. 

Mail Sport has learned that more than half of the £50m-a-year headline figure announced by the NWSL relates to production costs and marketing spend, with the cash value of the joint deal involving CBS, ESPN and Amazon understood to be around £20m-a-year. 

The WSL would be delighted with a similar deal when their current contract with Sky Sports and the BBC expires at the end of the season, although much will depend on whether they succeed in securing an exemption to UEFA’s Article 48, which would enable games to be televise at 3pm on Saturdays and give them a bespoke broadcasting resort slot, thus increasing its value.