'No deal to sell on Helder Costa' says Wolves MD Laurie Dalrymple

Laurie Dalrymple believes Costa's signing will help attract other top quality players to the club.

The Portuguese winger was signed for £13million last week, a fee that almost doubled Wolves' transfer record and took the club's spending under Fosun to £27m on transfer fees alone.

As part of an extensive interview Dalrymple told the Express & Star's Tim Spiers that the Costa deal had been spread out long-term to favour Wolves financially.

"It's a statement of intent," Dalrymple said. "He's a quality player and we've come to the conclusion he's an investment worth making.

"The ambition of the owner has been that the money's there, if we feel it's appropriate to spend we will – and we'll find a way to get round that.

"We've structured a deal over the long term which allows the financials of it to be favourable to us as a club.

"The payment structure, without going into detail, has been engineered to a favourable position for the club.

"It's also a statement to other good players who potentially might be interested in coming to the club."

In December the prospect of buying Costa – who Wolves had the exclusive option of buying in January – was rubbished by the club's hierarchy.

Dalrymple said it was too early to go public with the possibility of signing Costa at that time. And he allayed concerns that Costa had been bought now to be sold on for a profit in the summer.

"He's not been bought just to be sold on," Dalrymple said. "My understanding and my belief is we've bought him on a long term deal because we want him to be a big part of this club going forward.

"I'd be a bit of a fraud if I said he's definitely not going anywhere in the summer because I don't know that about anyone in the squad.

"But I certainly wouldn't want to lose someone of his ability having just made such a big statement by bringing him in.

"In the summer we potentially risk a bidding war with someone else. Given the way the loan deal was structured we had the opportunity to exercise that right to take him on a permanent deal.

"His performances have gone on an upward trend.

"Stoke and Liverpool (in the FA Cup) showed he's comfortable in that environment. We always had the option and we wanted to exercise it.

"It's certainly not spending above Fosun's means. We're acutely aware of Financial Fair Play and the parameters of that. "That's a long-term, three year framework, which is why the structuring of the deal helps us to manage that.

"If (the Costa deal) was a one-year or two-year deal that would potentially create us problems.

"In six months time someone else would take him. We wanted him to be part of the club going forward.

"He's been signed on a long term deal. I want that to be fulfilled for as long as possible - as long as we think he can contribute to the team, whether that's in the Championship or the Premier League, and as long as he wants to be in the squad and be part of Wolves."