Reassessing Wolverhampton Wanderers Recent Transfer Decisions and Squad Management
Reflections on some controversial player assessments, our transfer outcomes, and the club's financial management under Fosun, questioning whether the current strategy can secure Premier League survival.
Evaluating Squad Players and Missed Potential
I think Toti is probably a Wolverhampton Wanderers squad player rather than first choice left centre-back. But I do respect his loyalty and the fact he cares. An unpopular opinion, but I would have brought in a better centre-back than Coady. Yes, his leadership skills and how he organised the back five were impressive, but it was clear he was vulnerable due to lack of pace in the Premier League.
Trincao is a difficult one. His stats were very mid-table type numbers. He was impressive defensively compared to some other players, and he only played one season in a team that was constantly changing under Lage. As he is Portuguese, maybe he is compared against Jota and Neto, arguably two of our best forwards ever, more than some other forwards that have come since Nuno. In terms of heart, I would say this was an age and maturity thing rather than him not having heart. He went from Lisbon to Barcelona to the Premier League in two years. What I would say is he did stick with it when things got tough. He is a talent, and I think under Nuno we may have seen more from him.
Guedes is an interesting player as everything should have meant he was successful at Wolves. I think it was Lage's insistence that he would play as a false nine. He wasn't strong enough and he wasn't quick enough. But I think if he had played more on the wing, we would have seen more success with him. Also, over the past few seasons when he has tried and kept competing, I have respect for that, even if you may not be the choice of the manager, as it keeps standards high. Fer Lopez is just too young, and in such a strange time at Wolves earlier in the season, it's hard to say at the moment.
Fabio Silva and the Comparison Problem
Fabio is another player that will always be compared to Raul, so he is automatically deemed useless. But I think we played him in the wrong position as well.
He is also a false nine, and he needed players to run off him and for them to run off him. Maybe in the Premier League it didn't happen as much as it should have, with us changing forwards, managers and styles during his time. He actually did well in his first season, and I also remember him playing against Villa in April 2022 when he was amazing and got man of the match. A lesson to every young player: make sure you are playing and that your coach has your best interests at heart.
Podence and Sarabia are great technical players, but I will say it, both are squad players. I think we actually saw more from Sarabia, and I loved how he would come on and prove the manager wrong and be disappointed when he came off.
Deals We Got Right
Neves was someone we had to sell for PSR, and I think he couldn't turn it down. So the money was decent, we got two Brazilian midfieliers, so not too bad. Fabio Silva, okay yes, he didn't always want to play, but fifteen million over five years and the money we got for loans and his sale, we probably did well out of it. He did a job in the season Raul was injured. Cunha did well, helped make sure we stayed up, and we got a decent fee for a player that wouldn't have signed otherwise. Bear in mind we got more than Bournemouth for Semenyo.
Neto is probably a good deal. He is playing more but he is rotated more and protected by the Chelsea team. Fifty-five million isn't cheap. Kilman cost eight hundred thousand and sold for forty-five million. How can you not do that? Ait-Nouri was a good sale. We had a very good left wing-back for five years, so I don't begrudge the deal we got.
The Challenge of Recruitment and Stability
I get your points on value for money in a player. But I do think it's easy to say the club should replace Cunha, for example, with another Cunha-type player. It's not that simple. All the teams outside the top six are after the same players. What would be good, and what worked for five years under Nuno, was he had a project and everyone played for and bought into that project. So a manager that is well known and you back makes you successful. Emery at Villa, Nuno at Wolves and Nottingham Forest, Klopp at Liverpool, Pep at City, even Mourinho at United with two trophies and second in the league.
With regards to Doherty, I think most of the players that leave Wolves leave after three to five years. Don't get me wrong, Nunes and Collins left after a year. But most players we sign are team players that buy into the small squad mentality. Semedo wanted to play European football. He had done five years here. Traore thought he was worth one hundred and forty thousand a week. We have Jackson now. Raul had two seasons and played a lot of football.
He scored six goals in forty-nine games in the Premier League, or nine goals in fifty-six appearances in all competitions. I'm happy he is back at it, but we can't wait forever for him to find his form.
Environment, Financial Management and Current Concerns
Environment is interesting. I think the team is very close-knit and would have been hurting earlier this season in particular. But I think the constant changing of the manager has led us to chasing styles and players, then the style changes again. It would be good to see Edwards supported in bringing some players in to play a bit more balanced and with more pace up front, for games against the top eight, for example.
On the flip side to that, Wolves financially have been managed pretty well compared to other clubs that have been bailed out over the past five years with PSR. Like Everton, Forest, Leicester, Luton, Villa and Newcastle have all been bailed out. Some of the rumours of the salaries are just that, rumours. I struggle to see Fabio Silva on over one hundred thousand if we wouldn't pay Semedo that. But I can see Gomes, Raul, Neves earning that money. The problem for Traore was he was consistently inconsistent, apart from 2019-2020. I think Traore thought he was a Champions League player, but he was barely a Premier League player based on his pace.
To summarise, I don't believe Silva was on the money quoted. He would have been on fifty to seventy-five thousand with bonuses included. Traore would have been on eighty-five thousand plus bonuses. Again, I think Raul and Otto are really out of the hands of the club. They rehabilitated and paid for the best doctors for both. Sometimes time is the healer for Raul, and I feel for Otto. He should have been Spain number one as well. I have cleared up Trincao and Guedes. I'd say Nunes is a lot worse and at times just looked really disinterested with being here.
Fosun's Record and Future Planning
I wouldn't say Jeff is completely to blame, but it would be good to hear what our plan is for the next three years and what the club are doing to achieve those targets. Maybe the lack of plan, or constantly changing the plan, is the reason that fans are frustrated and divided on some issues.
We have to remember Fosun did get Wolves five points off the Champions League in a season VAR took fifteen points off us. They took us to a European quarter-final even during a pandemic. Not to mention finishing seventh in two consecutive seasons to miss out due to Arsenal winning the FA Cup. And they have, on the whole, backed up their words in 2016, and Morgan and Moxey didn't do too bad with getting the deal done.
In terms of the current situation, I think the club should sell Larsen and Wolfe. And they should aim to bring in McAtee, two forwards and a right wing-back. They should outline the plan they have for us. But I think they are waiting to hear what the rules are in the Championship and the Premier League, as both change this summer, so they can make sure we are ready for a promotion push and so they can further invest on promotion. I think they know how much trouble they are in. They are generally hoping our run continues and Forest or another drops off like we did at the end of last season and start of this season.
Final Thoughts on Survival Chances
Well, it is more exciting than the Hayward and Morgan years. This team is a lot better than the team that got relegated in 2012. I genuinely think they may stay up. The next five games are pivotal, and I'm not sure how West Ham will look with the two new strikers.
I don't blame Jeff solely for this season. I think Vitor was narrow-minded on his tactic. He wanted to play narrow and through teams. The Premier League had different ideas. No idea why he sanctioned the signing of Jackson, Wolfe and Tolu. Though I think Tolu and Lopez will be useful if we go down. But I wouldn't write off Arias, Tolu and Krejci having an even better second half of the season. Mane is a game changer.
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