After three stellar campaigns, this season has felt like anything but progress.
There’s a huge summer ahead, so it’s appropriate to cast an evaluative eye over the current squad and consider who is likely to feature next season and where improvements must be made.
Goalkeepers
Rui Patricio – Keep
Statistics suggest that this has been Patricio’s poorest campaign in a Wolves shirt, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The Portuguese stopper has regularly bailed out a defence that has been a shadow of its former self and remains a key player.
John Ruddy – Keep
Not quite the safe pair of hands he used to be if his mistakes against Stoke and Southampton are anything to go by. One of the Academy keepers will need to start challenging him soon.
Defenders
Conor Coady – Keep
A season that started so well for our Scouse skipper has regressed quite dramatically. But there’s been a big improvement from February onwards, with Coady beginning to look a threat from set pieces. If we’re abandoning the back four experiment, he’s still a crucial player.
Willy Boly – Keep
Nowhere near his usual high standards. Wolves are much more solid with Boly in the side, but his influence hasn’t been as profound as last season. He’s also now 30, meaning we might need to start planning for life without him.
Romain Saiss – Keep
Not a bad campaign for the dependable Moroccan, who has remarkably picked up only one yellow card so far. He’s also been a big contributor at the other end of the pitch, sitting joint third in the goalscoring charts. That being said, finding an upgrade should be a priority in the summer.
Max Kilman – Move
Always dependable when called upon, and yet Kilman hasn’t managed to nail down a spot in the starting eleven. Bearing that in mind, you suspect he could be one that is moved on to raise funds.
Jonny Otto – Keep
Has shown everyone just how good he is since his return from injury. The Spaniard is a classy operator and it was great to see him sign a new long-term contract with the club.
Nelson Semedo – Keep
Despite looking a total car crash of a signing in his early outings, Semedo has grown in stature as the season has progressed and has some impressive stats under his belt. Will need to start contributing more in terms of goals and assists though if he’s to justify his hefty price tag.
Ki-Jana Hoever – Keep
Opportunities have seldom been forthcoming for the young Dutchman but, when he has played, he’s looked a decent prospect.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – Move
Despite enjoying a stellar debut against Palace, Ait-Nouri has done little to suggest he’s a better backup to Jonny than Vinagre was. With his buyout clause allegedly standing at a princely £20m, it’s hard to see his Molineux stay extending beyond this season.
Fernando Marcal – Keep
Almost impossible to assess due to his rotten luck with injuries. Marcal was a relatively low risk purchase at £2m but you still have to question the wisdom of signing a player who had made just 42 appearances in three years at Lyon.
Midfielders
Ruben Neves – Keep
A hit-and-miss season for Molineux’s resident maestro. With five goals to his name already, Neves could equal or better his best tally in old gold. But there have equally been plenty of games that have passed him by. Recruiting a midfield partner that gets the best out of him should be a priority.
Joao Moutinho – Keep
Undoubtedly one of the best players to ever don old gold, but sadly nowhere near as influential as he’s been in previous years. With just 12-months to go on his deal, you suspect that next season will be his swansong.
Leander Dendoncker – Keep
Three seasons into his Wolves career, Dendoncker remains something of an anomaly. Is he a nice-to-have handyman or a key player? Though you can never fault his application, he needs to do more to prove he’s the latter.
Morgan Gibbs-White – Loan
Fabled as the best player to come out of the Wolves Academy, Gibbs-White continues to flatter to deceive and is now firmly in make-or-break territory. Will hopefully get another opportunity to go out on loan and show people what he can do.
Vitinha – Move
His wonder strike against Chorley aside, it’s been a forgettable loan spell for Vitinha. Like Ait-Nouri, it’s difficult to imagine us stumping up the cash for a player that has featured so little.
Owen Otasowie – Loan
Already capped by his country, Otasowie certainly has the physical attributes to be a real star. But he’s been used sparingly and, like Gibbs-White, might be best served by a loan spell elsewhere.
Forwards
Pedro Neto – Keep
In a class of his own this season and a shoo-in for the Player of the Season trophy, Neto is the undoubted jewel in our crown. You would hope that Fosun will allow Nuno to build the team around him next season, but there’s sure to be interest from bigger clubs.
Daniel Podence – Keep
Another that is difficult to evaluate. On top form, Podence is an outrageous talent. But, like most of his teammates, he’s struggled for consistency and fitness this term. Will need to address that if he’s going to nail down a spot in the eleven.
Adama Traore – Move?
Though the much-discussed zero goal contribution is something of a red herring, it’s hard to view Adama’s season as anything other than a massive disappointment. The Spanish speedster has all the attributes to be a world-beater but so often fails to produce. If we need to sell to buy, it’d be tempting to cash in if a suitable offer is forthcoming.
Fabio Silva – Keep
Regardless of age, you have to say that Silva looks a poor investment at £35m. Though his potential is clear, he’s nowhere near ready to cope with the cut and thrust of English football. Will learn from this season though and hopefully benefit from a full pre-season.
Willian Jose – Move
Maligned on social media, Jose has struggled to make an impact in old gold and almost certainly won’t be bought. However, he has provided a much-needed focal point in Raul’s absence and taken some of the weight off Silva’s young shoulders.
Raul Jimenez – Keep
If we didn’t know how important our number nine was before his injury, we do now. Put simply, Wolves are a pale imitation of their usual selves without Jimenez. It’ll be a special day when we can serenade the Mexican with chants of ‘Si Senor’ once again.
Interesting assessments Ben and I agree with most.
I think we have a decent squad when everyone is fit, but there are three things we have to address:
1. Depth – our options from the bench have been horrible this season.
2. Goals – we need to score more of them.
3. Mobility – we don’t have enough down the spine of the team.
Depth can be addressed by loaning out, sending back or selling three or four of the younger lads and replacing them with more senior, established pros.
I quite like Otasowie despite a couple of bad cameos against Brighton/Man City and think he has the physical stature to be a useful addition. Vitinha has looked alright in glimpses but the fact he’s hardly had any minutes suggests Nuno isn’t a fan so he’ll likely go. Gibbs-White I would get rid of because I don’t see where he fits. We shafted him a bit by bringing him back from Swansea where he was doing well, but he hasn’t looked up to it. Ait-Nouri I would let go too rather than pay big money. So that’s 3 out and maybe £40-£50 saved/generated.
Goals will hopefully be aided by having Raul and Podence for more of the season, but it’s clear we need more firepower. I’d loan out Fabio and see if there options more enticing than Willian Jose. If not, I wouldn’t be against signing him based on his overall game being tidy and I think we can coax goals out of him in a more attacking system. I suspect Adama might be sold on the basis he hasn’t signed a contract so he’d need replacing, hopefully with someone of proven stature. I see we were linked with Ocampos at Sevilla today and he would fit the bill.
A center half and midfielder that can cover ground would allow us to play with a back four or help us get more possession in our existing shape. Chelsea have been playing with a back 3 and dominating the ball because Kante and Kovacic run around so much and give options, so it’s clear it can be done.
I hope the club have similar thoughts and retain a genuine aspiration to progress. What they do in the market this summer will say a lot I think.
I’m with you on most of your recommendations Ben.
The ones I don’t agree with totally are:-
Max Kilman.
He has impressed me on all of his appearances, apart from when he was played at left back. It might seem like a small move, but the difference in the skills required to cut it at centre back and full back are huge.
Definitely keep.
Marcal.
He always looks the part when he comes on… and then limps off after not very many minutes with an injury. A shame, he’s suffered throughout his career, I don’t think he’ll change now.
Move.
And what about the BIG enigma that is Adama?
He’s got to stay, in my opinion, until he gets another chance to play with Raul, or another striker who is ready NOW and can take the chances that Traore will certainly create.
Keep.
Then we need a proven striker, a proven attacking midfielder, a proven right back, a proven….
I could go on. But we all know we desperately need to strengthen our under powered squad.
As we’ve found out to our cost this season.
Injuries happen.
I think I am 100% in DOOGooder’s camp on this one.
I think Wolves need a balance of retaining long term prospects and bringing in improved quality for immediate impact. They also need to increase the squad size so when injuries do happen (as we learned the hard way this season) our bench has better options to offer.
So with that said, I would be inclined to keep Kilman (I believe has has shown enough potential and is a good bench option) as well as bring in a quality, proven center half of the Boly or better level. Also agree on Marcal … too injury prone. Looks like a solid player when he plays, but need someone who is more resilient to the EPL school of hard knocks.
I also am 100% in the keep Adama camp. I recently rewatched some of the 2019/2020 season highlights when he was on fire and it was glaringly obvious that he has lost his two main partnerships that were clicking for him from that season: Doherty behind him and Raul in front. That, together with his shoulder injury, explain a lot of what has set him back. But I believe he is a top athlete and I believe he will once again click back in with the right partnerships. If he wants to stay, I would absolutely hope we keep him.
This summer has to be a building one for me. Less risks on players going out and more on bringing in the right quality to fit Nuno’s new system.
So for me,
IN: proven quality striker, qualify center half, attacking midfielder a la Alex Rae.
OUT: MGW, Marcal, Vitinha, Jose, (Ait-Nouri maybe)
KEEP: the rest (with some loan options where needed)
Go Wolves
Nuno – Sell to Tottenham. My brother called up and started talking about football (which he doesn’t really watch). He said maybe it is time to change the coach because sometimes a coach can only take the team so far. It has taken a few years but now his mistakes are becoming more obvious. Gonclaves, for instance. The fact that he has had about a half dozen attacking midfielders bought for him but can’t seem to find one he likes. His lying to us repeatedly about Cutrone, for instance, is particularly annoying to me. Just say he doesn’t fit the style you want for a striker – you don’t have to lie to us. Remember when Cutrone was sent to Valencia and Nuno said something along the lines of he needs to get his confidence back because we need him to start scoring again – we need the goals. Everyone knows he has no intention of ever having him play regularly so stop treating us like idiots.
I’m starting to feel toward him like I did near the end of the McCarthy era where it went from me liking him to getting annoyed at what he said.
Adama – Keep and see what he can do with a new coach who knows how to use the opened-up space he brings. He can’t be blamed for Nuno’s inflexibility of style.
Marcal – Sell – What’s the point of him staying if he can’t say healthy? Good player but if he can’t stay healthy (maybe the surgeries will fix him but…) then sell.
Rayan – Keep. He is almost as highly rated as Fabio so if you want to keep Fabio, why not keep him as well? Why are you not cutting him the same slack as you are Fabio?
Gibbs-White – Where does he stand on the depth-chart? I can see him being behind more than one attacking midfielder so just sell him to Swansea or wherever and put a sell-on clause in it in case he grows up.
What about the other players who are out on loan? Mir (if we can get him back), Cutrone, Jordao, Shabani. Hey, what about Bonatini. He scores as much as Jose but would cost nothing. And he knows how to play the style Nuno likes. Plus he’s younger.
Mir was the worst player Forest ever loaned and now he is very highly rated. I heard he is even getting better because the coach decided to let him play more the way he wants. Just emphasizes that the style a team plays is as important as the talent – at least as far as forwards go. You can’t try to force a forward to play a different way than they became good playing. Sometimes it works but many times you have to adapt the style of play to the players’ strengths.
Shabani said in an interview that Ajax wanted him so he is probably as highly rated as the rest of the attacking midfielders. I would keep him.
Cutrone is a situation where we are going to lose money if we sell him at his current value but the teams he is being sent to are not playing him for whatever reason. The fans at Valencia can’t understand why he can’t get game time when the starter is not scoring himself. Maybe a second-tier club for half a season where he is almost guaranteed to play. Maybe his style would fit the Championship but a second-tier club in Italy might be the surest option. Not sure if he would agree to that but he has to rejuvenate his career.
I think the reason Rayan isn’t being given the same slack as Fabio Tim, is that we have signed Fabio, whereas Rayan is only on loan. A club like us can only afford a certain number of expensive ‘one’s for the future’.
Hi Wolfstroker, those were my thoughts exactly. I like Ait-Nouri but don’t think we can justify shelling out £20m for someone who is essentially going to be playing second fiddle to Jonny. Especially when Ryan Giles is doing well out on loan.
OK, I get you. The thing is, that eliminates the buy young, highly rated players and then develop them for our own use or to sell philosophy – which seems to be Fosun’s approach.
Didn’t we pay that much for Neto? You are essentially saying that we should not have bought him because he was backup to Diogo.
Not really, though I’d be the first to admit that I thought Neto was a poor signing on first glance. He has really come good in the last 18 months or so. I’m just assuming that we aren’t going to have a huge war chest to play with this summer for the obvious reasons, and that we could spend £20m plus more effectively. In my opinion a centre back and central midfielder are far more pressing requirements than a reserve left back. I do agree though that Ait Nouri has a lot of potential.
Things are going to change with UEFA’s changing of the rules so we will see if Fosun’s approach changes, too.
Apparently we were making £20 million profits before COVID so why was that not invested?
Playing devil’s advocate: maybe Neto was not bought as a backup for Jota but as a replacement.
Maybe Ait-Nouri is being bought for the same reason.
Or maybe he’s not being bought at all.
Dont tell Bedders!!
I think he’s very similar in strengths / weaknesses and ability to Vinagre. If we don’t sell him we may as well hold onto him and get rid of Rayan.
Can’t disagree with you there Steppenwolfe. The similarities are striking (no pun intended), although Vinagre did have much longer to prove himself and he didn’t really show any improvement.
Given the times, financially, it’s difficult to justify keeping Rayan at his price.
My thoughts on the Ait-Nouri / Vinagre discussion is as follows. Vinagre (who I like) has had several chances to prove himself but hasn’t come up with the goods on a regular basis. RAN has had a few outings, some good some less so. If we could sell Vinagre for something around the 10/11 million mark (as touted in the press) and knock Ait-Nouri’s price down from the supposed 20 million to around 15/16 million we would be getting a good deal based on RAN’s proven potential.
Otherwise, I understand that Ruddy will be on his way as he wants game-time. Sarkic to replace. MGW I would sell (or otherwise loan out), release Marcal (too injury prone), Jose and Vitinha, sell Cutrone, Bonatini, Traore, maybe recall Mir before selling him to a bigger (read wealthier) club than Huesca. Keep Kilman and loan out OO. And bring in some new blood at the back, in midfield and up front.
Get rid of all the loanees, as they aren’t good enough. I’d sell Kilman, MGW, Saiss, & loan out Otasowie & Silva (I’d rather sell Silva but, no one will pay the stupid amount we shelled out). We need to sign 2 x CHs, 1 x CM & 2 x Strks, keeping our best players!!
In three years, Silva will be seen as a bargain.
I think we should be looking to keep both Vitinha and RAN, albeit after negotiating discounts. Both very fine prospects. Also the new post-Brexit rules make it almost impossible to bring in young talent like this in the future. I am sure this was Fosun’s investment thesis last summer. It was a miscalculation regarding our immediate needs but no need to throw the baby out with the n
Bath water
First up whatever is done we cannot continue with this philosophy of having a tiny squad of players Nuno is actually willing to use if we have any chance of competing in European competition .It is plain to me that the tiny number of players used last season knackered them physically and mentally which has contributed to our very poor season .
I would not keep any of the loan players because I am not convinced any of them add sufficiently to our squad ,the prices asked are way too high and most importantly Nuno has by not picking them shown he does not really believe in them ( Jose being a special case since his alternative is our young friend I call Floppy which sums him up ) .
We need another CB an attacking midfielder and proper back up for Raul .If we have to for financial reasons I would sell Adama who is to me a-bit of a luxury when on his game but mostly not on his game .
I doubt Kilman or MGW will progress to first choice whilst Nuno is there so would dispense with them if I thought we could get decent prices .I would give Sanderson Kidman’s place as he seems to be a better long term prospect .
I would sell Cutrone for whatever we can get for him and have a hard look at Mir in pre season in case he has matured enough to be an option on the bench .
Fabio Silva seems to be developing a second career starring in the new Frank Herbert Dune film due for release in October 2021.
If he’s good enough for the Atriedes he should be good enough for Nuno.
https://www.inverse.com/dune-2021
Very interesting Ben.
Obviously we will all have our own opinions. Here are mine.
I’d stay with 343.
I’d go with a 22 man squad so we have 2 players for each position.
KEEP
Patricio
Coady
Saiss
Boly
Kilman
Hoever
Neves
Moutinho
Otasowie
Jonny
Marcal
Traore
Podence
Jimenez
Neto
GO
Ruddy – release
Semedo – sell
Ait-Nouri – send back
Giles – loan out
Gibbs-White – sell
Dendoncker – sell
Vitinha – send back
Silva – loan out
Mir – sell
Bonatini – release
Cutrone – sell
PROMOTE
Promote to the first team squad
Sarkic
Sanderson
BUY
Right sided centre back – Adarabiyo from Fulham?
Right wing back – Matt Doherty
Defensive central midfielder – Bissouma from Brighton?
Sign Willian Jose on a permanent deal
A wide left attacker
OODCL
Help me understand on what basis you would want to sign Jose on a permanent deal Bedford? He hasn’t even come close to impressing in my book. What do you see in him? He hasn’t cut it.
No goals GW, but a big, albeit gradual, improvement in results since he came in.
I don’t think he’s worth the asking price though.
Fair play for naming names when it comes to additions Bedders. I like your style.
Bissouma would fit the bill nicely, but loads of reported interest in him and (without wanting to sound too negative) are we enough of a step up to entice him away?
I haven’t seen much of Adarabiyo but I know Fulham have picked up defensively as the season has gone on and he’s a big athletic defender, so again, meets the criteria.
The obvious spanner in the works for all (apart from Doherty) is that uncle Jorge has his fingerprints over all our transfer activity and if he’s not getting a cut, I don’t think it’s likely to happen, hence why I think we’ll be shopping in the Spanish and Portuguese markets again in terms of new additions rather than raiding fellow Premier League clubs.
Interesting choices Bedders.
Disagree with:
Kilman. Keep.Very skilful and composed for a relatively inexperienced defender.
Adama: Sell.Put him up for auction if he won’t sign a new contract. Though I’d hate to lose him.
Semedo: Improving all the time so keep and see how he goes.
Vitinha: Talented kid from what I’ve seen (not enough) and could be a good replacement for Joao over time.
Swapping Semedo for Doherty is going in the wrong direction
If we send back the three loanees that saves 60 mill sell everyone out on loan plus MGW we could raise another 40 or 50 mill that gives you a pot of 100 to 110 mill. Buy a decent striker 2 midfielders 1holding 1 attacking and an other CH would also sell Kilman I like him but it looks like Nuno does not so let him go .
It’s interesting some players are being traded out on media reputation or lower league performances rather than watching them train or play over a number of weeks or months. Frankly how can any of us have an opinion on the likes of Saunderson or even Vitinha on the few minutes we’ve seen them play.
If anyone tries to put Traore in an Uber I’ll be there to puncture the tyres. He’s the type of player you build your team around, not sell.
To keep it short for the rest of the squad see what Doog wrote.
I watched a Sunderland match the other day and Sanderson did indeed impress. Big strapping lad who’s cool in possession and always getting a foot in to disrupt attacks. A bit Willy Boly’ish but slightly more hair.
Just as importantly, he’s a local lad who really wants to play for the Wolves.
I am pretty sure he played in the victorious Asia Trophy in China. I remember booking a Wednesday off and going up the Hogshead Wolvo for an 11am kick off. Quite a few of the young guns featured in that tournament.
What great fun all this speculative shopping is. Yes I’ve spotted Bissouma at Brighton too but that means plenty of others have as well. We would be happy to know what Fosun’s aspirations are but let’s not hold our breath. Ironically, Raul’s awful injury means he won’t be a target but Traore and Neto may well be. Collectively this blogging community agree that we need to strengthen the starting eleven and the power of the subs bench in order to attack the summit again. Having a whip round might not do it so we’ll just have to wait and see..and hope our dreams come true.
I genuinely believe that when our squad is fully fit we are more than capable of holding our own around that 6th – 9th spot in the league. Hopefully this summer’s dealings will be about retaining most of our players and adding a few new ones that will appreciably improve the quality of the starting XI, rather than just padding out the bench.
Of our loanee’s – Ait-Nouri, Vitinha & Willian Jose – I don’t think I’d keep any of them at the prices being quoted, Ait-Nouri is probably the pick of the bunch and might be worth another season long loan if we could swing that.
Ruddy is out of contract in the summer and as much as I like him I’d be amazed if he was retained by the club.
Of the rest of the squad I would hope to keep them all apart from Gibbs-White, who seems to have hit a brick wall in his development with us. It’s inevitable he will go on to do well elsewhere but for whatever reason he hasn’t pushed on here as he should of and our midfield needs an overhaul. I also wouldn’t be too sad if Marcal left, looks a tidy player but too injury prone.
Hopefully we can hold on to our better players but I’m a firm believer that if a player no longer wants to be here then for the good of the dressing room they need to go. I wonder if Traore is fully committed as his contract negotiations seemed to break down. If not then he needs to be sold.
I think it would be a mistake to let the likes of Kilman or Otasowie leave either permanently or on loan – both good players with potential – and what would we have to pay to replace them?
Of the first team players we have out on loan it would be good to see the likes of Vinagre, Ronan and Mir given a fresh chance in pre-season, but it seems that once Nuno sends you out on loan that is the Molineux departure lounge.
Our summer shopping list should be a goalkeeper to replace Ruddy, possibly a left (wing) back depending what happens with Ait-Nouri and Marcal, right sided centre half, top quality box-to-box midfielder to play alongside Neves and a centre forward who knows how to put the round thing in the net thing.
Out: Dendonker Jack of all trades master of none has missed a fair few sitters this season 1 decent game in every 10 for the size of him should be more physical in midfield.
2. Marcal to injury prone 32 has no pace.
3. Jose just not aggressive enough for the Premier League.
4. Ait Nouir to weak physically for a defender not worth asking price.
5. Gibbs White has not lived up to early promise.
Vitinha is hard to judge because we haven’t seen much of him he certainly isn’t worth the asking price but we have dropped a bollock before with the lad who is getting rave reviews at Porto at the moment so I’d keep him but cut a deal based on appearance’s or extend loan if possible.
Kilman I would keep and loan out like Sanderson if Nuno doesn’t see him as a first team player at the moment.
Midfield we are short Moutinho is getting on I don’t think it’s realistic to think he can carry on playing every game more like every other game.
It’s fair to say we need strengthening all over the squad is too small this season has show a couple of injuries and we are in trouble, there has not been anyone from the under 23’s that has come through either that also needs to be looked at.
Much of our summer transfer policy will revolve around how Raul is when he returns to the pitch. If there are doubts about his performance or health(god forbid) going forward, then much of our kitty will be pushed towards a top quality replacement. Hopefully that won’t be necessary. Things are looking promising.
Think we should sell everyone, and use the money to buy back Doherty and Jota.
Sack Nuno and get in Big Sam, who will be on the dole in the summer.
Get Morgan to redevelop the empty stadium into luxury apartments.
Appoint Mourinho as first team coach……………………knock his teeth out and put in seats.
Clive,Clive, Clive….
Big Sam is plastering down at the championship club of nothingness
Tut
So out of touch
Plastering?
Plastered, more like, watching his favorite non team sink as surely as the Titanic.
Lol
Walsall reserves
Makes me really sad….
Over that now
According to some beIN sports correspondent, there is going to be a major announcement regarding FFP and it will be completely reworked. Just in time for the Spanish giants.
UEFA to blow final whistle over financial fair-play:
it will be announced a new system of financial control that will leave much more freedom of spending to clubs
If your interpretation of the new rules is correct Tim this is good news. Of course the super wealthy clubs will be (post Covid finances allowing) spraying cash around but it will put an end to what is effectively a cartel.But that will also provide them with an added incentive to set up a “super” league which will be a permanent closed shop.
Thanks for the comments chaps, glad you enjoyed the piece. A brief word on Kilman if I may – I’m a big fan and would actually be pretty disappointed if we sold him. However, Fosun’s model has always been to sell as well as buy assets and I think that he might be one we could get an inflated fee for based on the fact he has fared well in the games he has played. Nuno obviously doesn’t rate him over Saiss at the moment so you have to question whether he is the long-term answer. As for Traore, again I am a huge fan but the reality is if he won’t sign a new contract (for whatever reason) we should cash in or risk losing him on a free further down the line.
Great thought provoker Ben as ever… Got us all thinking and speculating. I can’t add much to what others have said, but mention what I said in a previous blog, I have no idea what our board will do or any right to expect to give me the inside track.
I just hope that, despite the impact of covid on the fiscal side of their business, they look at it from a business perspective of – our policy this year has not really worked and our aspiration to grow the brand has taken a backwards step. Guess the fact the list of number 1 squad players you list is so small we don’t have much room for manoeuvre, is telling in its self!
Whatever happens on the new rules, that Tim alludes too, which I am unsure on, I just think Fosun must look at this year as a retrograde step and want to take action. I also hope that we don’t just use uncle Jorge for our dealings, but cast our net a little wider for some of the other nationalities with experienced and young talent that are out there.
The hard work starts in the summer for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC,
I feel.
Keep the faith.
Mar hull, I’ve be saying for a while know our transfer dealing are to much reliant on uncle Jorde to blinkered need to look at all markets we have ignored UK market apart from one or two for U23’s.
Indeed you have Paul and I for one agree with you.
Interestingly, for a nerd like me, the club’s accounts for May 2020 were recently released (our second PL season) showing a whopping £39.3m loss caused directly by loss of revenue due to CV-19 (it states that without this a profit of £17.6m would have been made). The loss is directly due to a drop in TV income – down from £114m to £72m. Would you believe we actually made more money in gate receipts last season than we did the year before despite playing the last dozen or so games behind closed doors!
Selling existing players made a trading profit of £9.5m. We sold Ebanks-Landell, Hause, Cavaleiro & Burgoyne as well as a host of U23 lads including Goncalves, Seedorf & Deslandes.
But we also spent £51.9m on new players. Jimenez, Dendoncker, Cutrone, Jordao, Neto & Podence for the first team and even more U23’s including Dadashov, Shabani, Mayounga, Campana, Lonwijk & Matheson (I wonder if any of those will make the first team or continue to be traded to generate cash?)
That means we spent a net £42.4m on players.
I guess these two things might help explain the self-financing transfer strategy of last summer, but hopefully we will have a bit more room to spend this coming summer on a few top quality additions.
Tim,
You were right about FFP rules it’s on the BBC website so must be true. Like you say the so called big clubs have moaned to UEFA they are struggling but what’s good for the Goose is good for everyone else.
World exclusive there Tim….will this effect our transfer budget this summer we will have to wait and see.
Not sure if it will take effect right away. Apparently, they are still discussing it. But if they are going to change things and we were running surpluses, we can just do the 3 years rolling debt thing this summer.
Of course, I think Fosun are now firmly in the financial independence for Wolves way of thinking.
They injected a lot of money to get us to be a stable Premier League club but I don’t think they are of the same mind as Abromovich or the Shiek.
Plus, not all that money they injected wasn’t really injected. Isn’t it now debt?
Plus, not all that money they injected was really injected. Isn’t much of it now debt?
Keep mark rankine
Sell floyd Street
Simples
He may be 61 now, but I still think we could build our defence around Floyd Streete and Wily Boly…talk about running into brick wall…
??
I’d pay to see that Jack
Seems like a lifetime since seeing Floyd play
Those were the days my friend. Floyd streete backward somersault. Kendall Kendall show us your arse. Bully’s gonna get ya. Oh Robbie Robbie! Yo never ban a Wanderers fan. Psycho! Psycho!. Great great memories Shed.
Keep John Ruddy if he wants to stay.
Keep Marcal.
Let Ait-Noori (no better than Vinagre), Vitinha and Jose go. £60 million for the three – no thanks.
Keep Ottasowie (great prospect}, but sadly let Kilman go (good Championship standard).
Bring back Sanderson to stay.
Sell Traore for whatever we can get – he doesn’t want to be here and thinks he’s good enough to go back to Barca or to Liverpool.
Cuitrone – £20 million write off.
MIr – maximise sale fee.
Jordao, Campana?
Gibbs-White, depends on his attitude.
Keep all the regular first teamers and do everything we have to hold on to Neto, and Neves.
And as a wild punt bring back Leo Bonatini for the squad. He can’t be worse than Cuitrone, Jose or Silva (so far) and let’s not forget that without his goals before Xmas 2017 we would almost certainly not have been promoted; plus he won’t cost anything.
Buy back Doc at half price?
And for those who castigate us for droning on about Jota. please read Steve Bull’s recent article. The most important 3 things for next season are a centre forward (hopefully Jiminez) with back up (Silva?), a belated direct replacement for Jota and a box to box midfielder – Semedo? I believe has has done this to good effect for Portugal.
And overall, sorry Nuno you have to back down on this – a bigger first team squad.
With everyone fit plus all the above we should have enough to challenge the top 6 again.
Steve who??
What does he know about football???!!!
Corbeanu scored with his first touch Thursday night. He must have been on the pitch for only 2 or 3 minutes.
How can someone who plays on the third-best men’s national team in North America not get any game time for Wolves?
I thought they used all the subs and he wasn’t on the pitch so I turned it off and then saw on Twitter that he scored a couple of minutes later.
If you’d watched him for the U-23s Tim you would have seen that he is still VERY raw.
Please explain what you mean by “raw”. Is Adama raw? What about Fabio? Was Neto raw last year?
I’m just curious what that means. If you can pass the ball well or get your head on the end of it, what else matters?
If he can add to the team now, why wait until he is the perfect finished product?
He seems to be a big, strong right-winger who can score some goals at lower levels. Why not give him some time at the end of games to see if he can do something at this level.
Nuno has extra room on the bench so put him on there and give him 5 or 10 minutes so I can say Wolves have a Canadian player.
Not arguing with you, just trying to understand.
OK – by ‘raw’ I mean that some of his decision making is poor. e.g. I’ve seen him trying to take on defenders when he hasn’t had proper control of the ball; choosing to run with the ball when a pass would have served the team better; choosing to go inside when there was a better option outide etc etc.
Thats not to deny that the guy has talent – clearly he has. The problem is, as we have seen time and again, that the PL is ruthless – make a mistake and you will be punished. I get the impression that Nuno doesn’t put players out there unless he is fairly sure they won’t cost the team big-time, (not that they are the ‘perfect finished product’). IMO TC hasn’t reached that level yet.
So Adama Traore is raw too if that is the definition. That is exactly what people say about him.
Different people have different opinions on Adama. I’m not getting drawn into a debate of Traore v Corbeanu.
I think you’re probably right about Adama, Tim. He is raw, and running out of cooking time. Whereas Theo has only just gone into the oven.
I think Adama showed last season what an asset he’s at his best when the team as a whole functions well as an unit. If we need to sell to buy or receive an offer way over market value, then yes. Otherwise no.
Saying you have a Canadian footballer is like bragging you have a Scottish goalkeeper.
An oxymoron.
Tim, Tim, Tim. Without looking to cause offence do you really think that the 3rd best team in North America would hack it in the Premier League?
Great lead post, as always, Ben to keep us sane during the International break. Lots of good follow up posts with varying opinions on the loan players in particular.
I think much of our transfer strategy could hinge upon Raul’s ability to regain his pre GBH assault by Luis- Nuno must be desperate to see him back in action- health, of course, paramount in this. I don’t expect a major strategy statement from Fosun until this matter has been resolved. If Raul can reproduce his early season form then we don’t need to spend big on a proven, International standard striker. If there are doubts on this then I can see a strategy amounting to a firesale to generate the necessary funds which would include Adama, Podence, Kilman, MGW and no loanees purchased.
However, if Raul is capable of finding his form I would keep:
Jose- an excellent no. 10 who needs a pre- season to develop understanding.Negotiation on the fee though.
Ait- a terrific prospect but would not pay £20m. He will come back to haunt us if we let him go.
Not convinced by Vitinha or Podence despite their skills – too lightweight for our team at this time. Madness to sell Sanderson atm, as some media are speculating, I wonder whether Adama is sitting on the fence regarding renewal of his contract until Raul’s position is more clear. Or maybe he listens too much to the praise heaped upon him when he does hit form. Far too much potential to let him go imo.
If Wolves only could rekindle the interest in Anderson Talisca. He would be the perfect player to use in a central attacking midfielder position when playing 4-2-1-3. We need a box opener, and someone who also can score goals from a midfield position. Mouthino and Podence has yet to impress in that position, and Dendoncker hasn’t the abilities to do so consistently.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/fosun-receive-green-light-huge-20261029
Don’t know how much weight this carries. Thoughts?
The green light for the massive spend headline is the potential relaxation of rules on ffp rather than fosun signalling they are going to splash the cash. A clever headline but nothing more than that l would say
Yeah. I understand and agree with that view. Am interested to see Fosun’ s movement on this now.
I’m reading that Benfica are getting interested in Vinagre. Why do some players improve so much once they leave Wolves?
Just as many improve when they come to Wolves, Tim. C’est la vie.
Players should get better as they become men and get first-rate training.
Not always the case though is it. Campbell and Cavan Chapman. ?
Exactly. It works both ways.
An absolute loose cannon of a player, full of bad decisions. Tried to beat Kyle Walker for
pace not once but twice , hopeless for us !
That’s a naughty headline in the Birmingham Mail. Sucks you in then gives you nothing. Leads you to believe Fosun will splash the cash on our beloved team but the proposal hasn’t even been ratified by UEFA yet and you can bet the farm there will be strings attached to protect the elite cartel of clubs.
Agree with Ben’s prognosis, but not sure about moving Adama… yet.
What frustrates me most about Adama is the slight hesitation he displays when he receives the ball, trying to decide what trickery to employ, by which time he is faced with two or three quick witted defenders and then loses the ball in his attempt to run through them.
Unfortunately, opposing defenders have now got the measure of him and he has lost that ability to surprise his opponents.
I, for one, miss Matt Doherty. I didn’t realise he’d gone until I saw him playing for Tottenham.
I thought he was still injured… Doh!
Apparently, we may sign Ronaldo.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1416049/Cristiano-Ronaldo-Juventus-transfer-news-Real-Madrid-Wolves
Yeah, a 36 year old well past his sell by date, looking for a last mega payday, while he warms our bench, if he can get in the match day squad!
However, the world wide publicity might be worth the money, and he could play in cup competitions.
If he’s looking for a last mega payday, then the deal is off.
It’s all about building the brand. Here, there and in China. Look what recognition we got last year with all of those pictures of Adama in Wolves’ Old Gold.
So now you are Jeff Shi????
Make up your mind.
First you’re Mit, then Paulad68, now Jeff Shi.
Got an identity crisis?
First, there’s a LOT of “baby with the bath water” going on in the comments (and, in the blog, to be honest).
This has been a unique season which included:
1. Our top offensive player getting hurt
2. No rest after a 60 game season
3. A rash of injuries.
Without the injuries, I think the strategy would have been to slowly incorporate guys like Silva, RAN, Hoever and Vitinha.
Things didn’t work out that way and we fielded teams that were exceptionally young at times. You can say we should be ready for injuries – but, with the budget the wolves have, competing in the top seven means a focus on a strong first team and a youthful bench – and a bit of luck. The bit of luck didnt come this year.
This isn’t Liverpool – who can plug in a hugely expensive back up when a hugely expensive starter gets hurt. They can win without luck. We were unfortunate. With Jimenez we’d be in the top 8-10 – even with all of the other injuries.
Massive respect to these comments. The fantasy ‘fans’ need to get a grip. This Premier League is merciless. Just a slight weakness is exploited week in week out. The fact Wolves have managed to establish a foothold is a great tribute to Fosun and Nuno . Fosun because we have never previously had owners who have put in the the kind of revenue we could only dream of. Nuno because we have a manager who has been courted by the elite. Having said all that I think we will see in the summer window which way we are going. Fans will make their own minds up.
Watching the Portugal – England U21 match and, I have to say, if we let Vitinha go, that will be Porto’s gain. His buy out price is pennies compared to what Porto will get if he plays at Porto next year.
Two excellent comments in a row Lou. Take a bonus point.
I’ve said before about Fosun’s focus on a strong first eleven at the expense of the bench. Financial necessity in my eyes and better than having 20 odd mediocre players.
As for Vitinha, I watched highlights of their game against Croatia, in which he was MOTM, and he was terrific in his advanced midfield role and had two great, though unsuccessful, strikes on goal.
Great prospect and well worth keeping, I think.
The thing with Vitinha is that with the Portugal U21s, he’s not playing for Nuno. Maybe we can get that guy as our coach.
And I don’t want to get hacked at for stating the bleedin’ obvious but if Wolves are seriously talking to other teams about selling or buying star players, then either Nuno is definitely staying or the team doesn’t take input from the coach on who to sell or buy.
Therefore, it seems likely that Nuno will be given another year – I surrender.
Nuno’s solution to Adama Traore being tripled up against is to sell him? Is that an acceptable solution?
Get rid of Adama and the questions go away. Pathetic.
Klopp and other top coaches want him but Nuno wants him to go away because it highlights the fact that Nuno has no ability to find solutions that aren’t in the book he bought about how to coach counter-attacking football.
What will you think of Nuno if Adama goes to Liverpool and scores 5 goals as a part-timer?
Probably the opposite of what most of us think of you, Timmy baby, which is not f…..in’ much!
Do you ever not drink?
There you go Clive AAHouston.Org . Let me know how it goes. C
Did you silently swear Clive?
‘ladies present’
Not in my pub mate..’ger’ out !
All the Nuno haters might want to buy a t shirt with “F**k off Nuno” on it. Try walking through Wolves subway with that on.
Wouldn’t end well.
Lol
You had better be paying attention for the three series.
Apparently, some Be?ikta? players on the Canadian national team are telling their team they should sign Corbeanu.
?????????
@GlassCityFC
· 2h
Corbeanu is being linked to Besiktas, supposedly on the recommendation of Atiba and Larin. [@ajansspor] #CANMNT
And you accuse ME of being a drunk??
Jeeez!
What Planet Alcohol are you on?
And to answer your question, yes, of course, when I’m asleep, in my drunken stupors.
Slightly off topic but there was an excellent programme on the BBC last night about Jack Charlton which is well worth watching on the iplayer if you didn’t catch it. I can’t remember him as a player, only as a manager particularly for Ireland.
There was a bit on there about the abandoned England – Ireland match at Landsdowne Road due to crowd trouble. if I remember rightly Ireland had taken a 1-0 lead through a certain David Kelly. He was a decent player for us, even outscored Bully one season!
Yes, I watched that Newt.
So sad about ‘Big Jack’.
A great character who didn’t take any prisoners.
One of those, along with Astle and the like, that we all loved to hate back in the day.
But they didn’t deserve what happened to them.
He didn’t improve much at Olympiacos did he? They soon got rid. Don’t always believe what you read Tim.
Neither did Mir at Nottingham Forest. It all comes down to the style the team plays and the flexibility of the coach is letting an offensive player play to his strength.
Now you’ve done a “Who should stay or go” with our players, Ben, how about one for our wonderful referees??!!
Good idea. Personally can’t think of many I would keep. if any
I see we have got that idiot Oliver in charge against wham. So expect no penalties for us and 2 for wham. Oliver gave the s**t those 2 pens and missed their defender playing basketball.
Wolves player and Italian U21 team captain scored two goals tonight and easily could have had 5 or 6.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1376993612253306883
Tim interesting comments earlier that Valencia fans cannot understand why Cutrone is not being selected. Perhaps its for the same reason that his game time at Fiorentina was limited and similarly his game time/goals were limited in his final season at Milan.
As far as I am aware Nuno has no influence at any of those clubs. So is it just possible that either his mindset (includes confidence/flexibility) or his ability (or both) are not currently deemed to be at the level required for regular selection at a top tier club within a top tier league.
Under 21 football is not top tier even at international level. But still, good luck to Cutrone. I hope at some point his descending spiral lands on solid ground and he can re-construct his career. Who knows these last two international performances may help, just shame about the missed penalty.
At Valencia, Gracia asked for reinforcements and three were brought in – as I understand it without any input from him.
None of the three is getting much game time.
There are some who are saying that since they don’t have an option to buy and they are not in fear of relegation, why play him?
Just like Jeff said that we wouldn’t loan players without an option to buy because why should we develop other teams’ players?
With Valencia, they probably couldn’t afford him so didn’t want him to meet the criteria.
But Tim bad luck only explains so much. Ultimately Cutrone has to prove to someone he’s worth his place and his money.
I can accept the need to realise assets in order to invest, but it does feel like this summer is likely to be a much better time to buy than sell based on the financial impact of Covid.
Always difficult to assess the correct timing of an asset sale but as a pretty successful semi-pro share trader said to me, “no-one ever went bust by making small profits”.
Sanderson Kilman Otasowie and MGW’s value should increase by a good Championship season – with the right club.
Mir is more tricky. Can’t let him stay at Huesca and may not get the same game time elsewhere in La Liga. Doesn’t seem to suit English conditions but bad time to sell in La Liga. May have to bite the bullet and sell for a slightly deflated profit on the basis of a one-off season.
Had high hopes for Jordao decent money spent, but not getting selected at loan club. Shabani playing for dreadful club, can’t stay there. Both could easily be future regrets but sale at a profit or better loan seems reasonable.
Keep and develop Vitinha.
RAN doesn’t seem to suit a back four, Vinagre definitely doesn’t – need to sell.
Happy to see Traore go if a quality replacement achieved. Would like (but don’t think it would be for a second) Ocampos but would be happy with Trincao.
Apart from centre-backs and maybe left back would offer up the following signing options that I think could move us forward.
Sander Berge (Sheff Utd -strong midfield)
Gerson Rodrigues (Kyiv + Luxembourg – wide right and centre-forward. Goals for a snip of a price)
Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia – second striker option)
Renato Sanchez (Lille – there’s a quality midfielder in there)
Abdallah Sima (Slavia Prague – elegant strong number 10 support striker. We would have to wait in the queue but this player could get us up the pitch and improve spread of goals.
If you don’t think football has the capacity to surprise. Look at this tonight. GERMANY 1 NORTH MACEDONIA 2. Incredible. World football Germany are the bollocks. This is up there!