Jeff Shi: Actions of Wolves' rivals 'laughable'

Senior officials at Leeds and Aston Villa took to Twitter last week to take a swipe at Wolves' transfer dealings and their relationship with Jorge Mendes.

In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star, Shi said: "I was very surprised to see some Twitter of the chairman of Leeds (Andrea Radrizzani because I knew him, I also had several lunches with him, together with Jorge!"

"So it’s very strange. In person I talk to him and he’s nice, so I guess maybe he has the pressure and I understand that.

"I was also surprised to see the Twitter of Keith (Wyness, Villa chief executive). On Saturday I met him and said ‘what happened?’.

"I’m the chairman of a club so I can understand the pressure. We’re the guys facing pressure from fans and the league and I can understand releasing pressure on Twitter.

"On the other hand I think frankly it’s laughable, because they know nothing about us. I know everything about us and our club and what we’re doing.

"I know everything about the rules of the league and the FA and the EFL knows our dealings, every transfer document, agent fees, all information is recorded in their library.

"Our opponents don’t know much about us and it’s not a fair dispute. It’s easy for us to answer all the questions."

Questions have been raised about how Wolves have managed to attract stars like Ruben Neves to the club and the wages of a number of players.

Shi responded: "Why are you pointing at some players saying why are they here, or on a low wage, how do they know that? Some teams are trying to do something to undermine us off the pitch.

"If they want to do that we can fight back but I won't do that because I don't think that's the right mindset for anyone in the football industry.

"We know we are purely, purely clean. I told the players we are clear about that. It means we're doing well that someone wants to attack us. We should say very simply it will not work. We will not be affected by that.

"Football should be focused on the pitch, that's my view. I understand why they're doing that, to try and destabilise us."