Wolverhampton Wanderers have announced the signing of Bristol City goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.
Julen Lopetegui has already made widespread changes to his first-team squad in a short amount of time, bringing in four fresh faces by last weekend.
West Ham United defender Craig Dawson joined Mario Lemina, Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha in linking up with the Spaniard at Molineux.
However, it was recently reported that Lopetegui wanted to bring in more experienced competition for Jose Sa, with Matija Sarkic having been deputy to the Portuguese during 2022-23.
Although faith was placed in Sarkic for the FA Cup third round tie with Liverpool on January 7, the Montenegro international did not feature in the subsequent replay.
© Reuters
Wolves have now confirmed that Sarkic has been allowed to link up with Championship side Stoke City on a loan deal until the end of the season.
At the same time, the West Midlands outfit revealed that Bentley would be his replacement, the Englishman penning a two-and-a-half-year contract.
With the 29-year-old's contract at Bristol City due to expire at the end of the season, Wolves were able to negotiate a cut-price fee with their Robins counterparts.
Bentley moves to a Premier League side despite losing his place in the Bristol City side, the last of his 15 appearances this season coming at the beginning of October.
A new stopper in the pack. 🛑
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 25, 2023
Welcome to Wolves, @dan_bentley1!
🐺✍️ pic.twitter.com/6J2lhE6XoI
Nevertheless, Bentley departs Bristol City having made a total of 143 outings since the start of 2019-20, while he also represented Southend United and Brentford during his career in the EFL.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs told the club's official website: "Dan is a vastly experienced goalkeeper from the Championship and was Bristol City's captain, so is another big personality, a leader coming into the group.
"He's at a good age of 29 – a goalkeeper's prime for the next few years – so it made sense from all angles, especially for a nominal fee.
"This move also enables Matija to hopefully play week in, week out, which at his age is important. He has high potential, but hasn't played a lot of games, with his two previous loans being cut short due to injury."
Bentley is likely to be named among the replacements when Wolves play host to Liverpool in the top flight on February 4.
Darren Plant
