It’s no secret that the area most Wolves fans are keen to see bolstered over the summer is the back four.

It seems like we’ve all been saying the same thing for the last 3 years, about the need for a centre half with pace, and that still holds true today. But this isn’t an article about what we need to bring in, but more about what we have already.

In the full-back area I think we’ve already got the players that will start in those two positions. Kevin Foley is nailed on to be our first choice right-back for the entire campaign, barring injuries or a serious loss of form.

Over on the left, you’d imagine it would be a straight shootout between Big George Elokobi and Stephen ‘I always find a way to get into the team’ Ward. Please don’t take it from that unoriginal piece of comedy that I don’t rate Wardy. He was immense at full-back last season and one of the big reasons we were so successful. However, I think you’ve got to believe that a fully fit Elokobi is going to give our defence much more ‘presence’, shall we say. That being said, I wouldn’t like to put my money on which player Mick will choose come the West Ham match.

In the middle, we’ve got Jody (assuming he signs a new deal), Stearman and Berra. Out of the 3 players, my money would be on Berra to start alongside a new addition with Stearman and Craddock providing backup. Now, I wasn’t entirely convinced by Berra from what I saw at the end of last season. He has a lot of good qualities and seems to position himself well, but there’s that problem of a lack of pace and I don’t think he’s particularly comfortable on the ball. Maybe alongside someone with those qualities, we’d see the best of him so I’ll reserve judgment for now. Personally though, I was always impressed with Stearman whenever I watched him. He looked calm and assured on the ball, decent in the air and had enough pace to get by. Yes, he made mistakes at times but I still think he was desperately unlucky to find himself on the outside looking in at the end of last season.

So, to my mind, 4 of our back 5 (including the keeper) are already at the club:

1. Hennessy
2. Foley
3. Elokobi
4. Berra
5. ? (Mancienne – we can dream)

There’s strong rumours circulating that Kevin Doyle is in talks with Wolves over a £6.5 million move from Reading. This is confirmed on the Express & Star website (if you believe them of course):

http://www.expressandstar.com/2009/06/22/doyles-wolves-talks-in-club-record-move/

Now I’m not here to confirm or deny these stories, but to give my opinion. So here are the questions you have to be asking yourself as a Wolves fan, should the rumours turn out to be true.

1. Is Kevin Doyle a good signing for Wolves?

I’d have to say yes. I’ve seen him play against us a few times and he’s always looked pretty tidy. He can come short to pick up the ball, but he can also get in behind and knows where the goal is. I think he’d compliment Sylvain very well so in that respect, you have to say he’d be a good addition.

2. Is he worth £6.5 million?

There’s no doubting he’s a quality player and he’s definitely worthy of being our record signing. But £6.5 million seems a lot of money to pay for a player who only got 2 goals in the second half of last season. But I suppose if that’s the amount of money it’s going to take to trigger the release clause, which I’d imagine is the only way Reading would sell, then that’s how much he’s going to cost.

3. If he’s worth £6.5 million, how much is SEB worth?

Hmmm…I’ll let you answer that.

I can’t say I’m at all surprised by the fact Wolves have only made two signings thus far over the summer. Of course, like all of us, I wanted to see proven Premiership quality coming through the door as soon as the season ended, but that was always being very optimistic.

But worry, we should not. Amongst all the panic, there are a few things we must remember.

Firstly, it is still early days in the summer transfer window and business won’t start to hot up until all the teams report back for pre-season training. That’s when managers really assess their squad and decide which players can be shipped out. This is when the wheeling and dealing goes into overdrive and doesn’t stop until the window slams shut. I’d wager right now that at least two of our summer signings won’t arrive until the season has started.

Let’s also consider the fact that the squad we finished the campaign with wasn’t really all that bad was it? I think it’s been far too quickly forgotten how well that team played at times last season. Now I’m not deluded, I know we need strengthening in certain areas, especially in defence. But if we kicked off against West Ham with our best XI from last season, I wouldn’t say we were nailed on to finish 20th by any means. I’m not suggesting for one second that we don’t need to make further signings, but I definitely feel we need to have more faith in the players we already have.

Of the two signatures we have secured, Nenad Milijaš is certainly the more intriguing. There’s no doubting we needed to recruit an all-action midfielder and he seems to fit the bill, at least on paper. Assuming nobody else is brought in before the big kick-off and assuming he secures a work permit, I’d imagine he’d probably start in the middle of the park alongside Henry. I like the fact he’s a left-footer as you immediately get that balance and if he can take set-pieces and shoot from distance, he’s certainly something we don’t already have.

Although not the most glamorous signing in the world, I wasn’t unhappy to see Marcus Hahnemann come through the door. He’ll be a good, experienced backup if he’s called upon and I’ve always thought he was a solid performer whenever I’ve seem him in action. I think the fans who weren’t happy about the deal are mainly those who are most frustrated by the lack of signings in general. Had he been the last of five or six players to be photographed holding the shirt, I doubt anyone would have even raised an eyebrow.

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the transfer situation so far this summer. Feel free to leave a comment with your own opinion.