Middlesbrough will receive a little under £4 million from Wolves for having Rob Edwards poached by the Premier League club.
Edwards is understood to have agreed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux and will be unveiled as the new Wolves boss early this week. He was granted permission by Boro on Saturday to speak with Wolves, as Boro made their disappointment at Edwards' desire to leave the club clear.
Edwards was only four months into a three-year contract on Teesside and, as a result, Boro demanded a considerable fee from the Black Country club. In his absence, Boro moved back to second in the Championship on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Birmingham City.
It is understood that assistant coach Harry Watling will leave Boro and join Edwards at Molineux, but Adi Viveash, who led the interim coaching team on Saturday, will stay on at Boro as caretaker boss while the process of hiring Edwards’ successor takes place.
Boro chiefs are helped by the fact that we now enter a two-week international break, with players expected to have a few days off before returning to Rockliffe for training later in the week. Assuming no new head coach is in place by then Viveash will lead the side.
Owner Steve Gibson, chief executive Neil Bausor and head of football Kieran Scott will be the main men deciding who will be next Boro boss. The first task is to draw up their shortlist of candidates, with none in place owing to the sudden and unexpected nature of Edwards’ exit.
There’s a preference at Boro that Viveash stay on and continues his first-team coaching role under the new head coach - though a lot will depend on who ultimately gets the job and what they want and need from their coaching team. Viveash could offer no clarity on his future after the Birmingham win, but made clear his pride to work for the club.