Wolverhampton Wanderers are in a mess with just over two weeks to go before the new Premier League season gets underway.
It has been common knowledge for a while that the club’s finances are not in a healthy position due to their expenditure over the past three years, and they are having to walk a Financial Fair Play tightrope.
They have made some bad investments for the squad in this period. Young forward Fabio SIlva joined from Porto in a £35 million deal in 2020 and the player has already been sent out on two loans away with Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven. Another bad investment came in for the form of Goncalo Guedes last summer from Valencia.
Guedes arrived as a Portugal international with high expectations after his £27.5m transfer but he really struggled to adapt to the Premier League, resulting in a loan to Benfica. He is likely to depart WV1 again this summer and Wolves will need to recoup as much money as possible for the winger.
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They picked up Liverpool academy talent Ki-Jana Hoever in the same window as Guedes for £9m and that has proven to be another bad investment with the defender heading out on loan for his second temporary spell with Stoke City in as many years. They have also loaned out winger Chiquinho to the Potters to try to ease the wage bill. Young defender Dion Sanderson has joined Birmingham City permanently after two loan spells with their Midlands rivals.
There is also a chance that left-back Ryan Giles, who has gained a decent reputation in the Championship with Middlesbrough, Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers, could be sold with Luton Town interested.
Wolves have also cashed in on some of their more high-profile assets to adhere to FFP rules. Star midfielder Ruben Neves joined Al-Hilal for £47m and defender Nathan Collins, who they only signed last summer, has moved on to Brentford for a slight profit at around £23m.
Despite there being quite a few outgoings at Molineux and around £80m generated this summer, there have only been a couple of additions, with Matheus Cunha and Boubacar Traore having seen their loans convert into permanent moves. Matt Doherty has returned to the club after three years away and goalkeeper Tom King has joined, with both arriving on free transfers.
Wolves had tabled a £25m offer for exciting Bristol City youngster Alex Scott in recent weeks which was knocked back. It has now been reported that they can’t offer significant fees for any players because the financial situation isn’t under control. With just over two weeks to go until their opening fixture against Manchester United, manager Julen Lopetegui has got a crisis on his hands.
Key players from their recent history have moved on in Neves, Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez. Lopetegui’s ranks are extremely light and it doesn't seem like he’ll have much of a choice for his opening lineup, which doesn’t bode well for Wolves’ season.
This scenario reeks of financial mismanagement of the highest order and, for a club that was competing in Europe only three years ago, Wolves supporters deserve answers. Right now, the Old Gold are sleepwalking towards relegation because it looks like there is no end in sight to this saga of FFP compliance.
How is a Premier League club supposed to compete when they cannot spend money on players? This looks like it could be the beginning of the end of Wolves’ seven-year stint in the top flight. And no one would have foreseen this ending back in 2018. The fans have nothing to be positive about heading into the new campaign so you can expect things to get frosty towards owners Fosun International when the fans flock back into Molineux next month.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
