Dave Edwards: Former Wolves keeper Matija Sarkic was just a 'terrific young man'

I did not want to believe it. I saw it on social media and you are just hoping it is not true.

He was a young lad who has been taken from us far too soon.

I was lucky enough to know him quite well. I knew about him from his time at Wolves and I had heard what a talented goalkeeper he was and then I was delighted when he signed for Shrewsbury on loan in 2020. It was there I got to know him on a more personal level. My first impression of Mati was that he was a very polite boy, very personable and he had a real warmth about him right from the very first time I met him.

When you read and hear the tributes going out to him everyone is saying the same thing. He really engaged when he spoke to you and asked lots of questions in such a lovely manner.

He was a super competitive character, and as a goalkeeper, he was excellent – a great athlete who was so dynamic around his goal.

Mati had all the skills to be a top goalkeeper, but it is more on a personal level that he will be such a huge miss and my thoughts go out to his friends and family at this devastating time.

From my point of view, what a terrific young man. I have always been in contact with him, whether that was via texts or phone calls, and I met him quite recently to discuss his plans post-football.

He was always thinking ahead, and he had a lot of interest in some of the businesses I am involved. We had numerous conversations about it as he was such an intelligent boy – he was going to make a mark in this life beyond the football pitch, and I am incredibly sad that he is gone.

At just 26 years old, and when you have a personal relationship with someone, it makes this news so much more difficult to comprehend.

Everything else that has happened in the last week feels irrelevant when someone has lost their life and the news is so tragic.

But Gary O’Neil and Matt Hobbs were very pleased last week that Wolves had managed to get their first business of the summer completed with the arrival of Rodrigo Gomes.

I think it really helps put the fans at ease a little bit. They are going to be able to do business and getting one done nice and early knowing he will be there for the first day of pre-season has so many positives.

The timing of it before the Euros raises the optimism around Wolves as we know how hard it is when they go into the latter stages of the transfer window.

At the same, I still think the most important area they need to look at this summer is forward areas.

We saw what happened last year when there were issues with the fitness of their best players and how much it impacted the team.

Che Adams has been a player Wolves have been linked with over the last few months and he would be a good option.

Having worked in the lower leagues a lot over the last couple of years I have seen a lot of Elijah Adebayo and as a backup striker, he could be someone Wolves target.

It looks as if he might be available and he will not cost the earth compared to other players – he also managed 10 goals in the league last season which is a great effort.