Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed goalkeeper Matija Sarkic will remain with Bruno Lage's first team for the upcoming season, revealing this on their official website after the shot-stopper put pen to paper on fresh terms.

The 24-year-old was due to spend the whole of last season on loan at local rivals Birmingham City, with the Montenegro international a much-needed figure for the second-tier side as Neil Etheridge spent a while out of the first-team squad recovering from Covid-19 after being hospitalised with the virus.

And Sarkic proved to be one of, if not their best performer during the first half of the campaign, proving to be an important figure to their fast start to 2021/22 as he filled Etheridge's shoes extremely well.

Making the step up from League One side Shrewsbury Town well, he conceded a respectable 29 goals in 23 league games and kept 10 clean sheets in the process.

However, a dislocated shoulder derailed his season in the winter and with this setback, he returned to Wolves for the remainder of the campaign, a real blow for Blues despite the fact Etheridge was able to step up to the plate and take his place.

It was reported earlier this summer that they were interested in securing a fresh agreement for his services - but any chance of that has now been ruled out with Lage keeping him at Molineux beyond the summer window.

The Verdict:

At least this provides some certainty for Birmingham who can now move on, if they haven't already, to other targets.

A move for Jack Butland also seems unrealistic, so they need to be looking at alternative players that could come in and take Etheridge's place between the sticks.

With the Philippines international due a pay rise if he makes a certain number of further appearances for the club, you can understand why they are targeting a first-choice shot-stopper with an addition being needed in this area anyway following Connal Trueman's departure.

However, you could look at this situation as an unhealthy one too, because John Eustace ideally needs two goalkeepers that will be actively competing for the first-choice spot to maximise performance levels.

But with this Etheridge wage factor in play, they will just be hoping they can bring in a keeper that won't be complacent and can compete well like Sarkic did when he was at St Andrew's.

The Wolves man would have been a great first-choice option to have once again, so missing out on this deal is a bit of a blow for them even if it was expected.