Wolves Training Halted After Arokodare Refuses To Leave Pitch Over Transfer Row
By Akpo ESCO
Wolves’ pre-season was thrown into chaos on Monday after striker Tolu Arokodare forced new head coach Cesar Peixoto to cancel training.
BBC Sport understands the 25-year-old Nigeria international sat down on the pitch and demanded the club allow him to join Fiorentina.
Wolves have rejected a bid from the Serie A side, despite having already accepted an offer from Turkish club Trabzonspor.
The disruption led Peixoto to end the session early. Arokodare was also left out of Wednesday’s friendly against Maidenhead United as Wolves pressed on with their preparations.
On Wednesday evening the forward addressed the situation on social media:
"Throughout my career, I have always taken great pride in conducting myself professionally and maintaining the highest training standards.
My commitment has always been to prepare myself as well as possible so that I can contribute to my team mates and the club whenever I am called upon.
I remain under contract with Wolves, and my only intention is to fulfil my responsibilities professionally by training, doing my job, and contributing to the team in accordance with that contract."
This is the second flashpoint for Arokodare at Molineux. He was disciplined in April following a clash with young forward Mateus Mane.
The Nigeria striker signed from Genk last summer for £24m but managed just 3 Premier League goals as Wolves finished bottom and were relegated.
The incident comes as an early test for Peixoto, who replaced Rob Edwards last month. The 46-year-old, capped once by Portugal, joined from Gil Vicente and is tasked with leading Wolves straight back to the Premier League.
