Wolves manager Vitor Pereira has revealed that former captain Mario Lemina wants to leave the club.
Lemina missed Wolves' 3-0 defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday night as Pereira suffered only his second defeat in six games since replacing Gary O'Neil.
After the match, Pereira explained why Lemina was not in the match selection.
“I can't take a player who tells me he's not in the mental condition to help the team,” Pereira said. 'He (Lemina) wants to leave.
'I don't know what happened before me, but with this energy and this mentality I don't need him.
“He told me he wants to leave and he communicated this decision to the club a month ago.”
Pereira's revelation suggests that Lemina has been thinking about his future for some time.
The 31-year-old held the captain's armband at Molineux until last month but was stripped of the honor after getting into an on-pitch scuffle with Jarrod Bowen following a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
Lemina subsequently apologized for his behavior, but O'Neil opted to appoint Nelson Semedo as his new captain.
O'Neil was sacked just a week after the West Ham debacle, but Lemina was not given the captaincy back upon Pereira's arrival.
He could now leave the club in the final two weeks of the transfer window.
Wolves could not do without the experienced midfielder on Wednesday evening as an Alexander Isak brace and Anthony Gordon strike condemned them to a 3-0 defeat, leaving the Midlands in the bottom three on goal difference.
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