Wolves, the £94m gamble and a fanbase deprived of real connection ...Middle East

The revolving door at Wolverhampton Wanderers spins evermore. Out go Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, in comes nearly £94m.

A few fresh faces should follow. Wolves fans know the drill by now. We all do. It is one of the Premier League’s most ingrained transfer strategies, and one that is strikingly balanced.

Worryingly, though, it looks to be getting more disillusioning and riskier by the summer.

Since 2020-21, Wolves are £40m in the black for net spend. They will go back to red if they spend their Cunha and Ait-Nouri money, but to even be close to zero on the balance sheet is rare. From the Premier League’s class of 2025-26, 13 clubs are down more than £100m.

Chelsea top the lot at £880m, followed by the two clubs who finished either side of Wolves in the table last season: Manchester United (£643m) and Tottenham Hotspur (£503m).

Rayan Ait-Nouri (L) and Matheus Cunha (R) have both left Wolves (Photo: Getty)

Only Everton and new boys Sunderland, who have just sold Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund, join Wolves in boasting a positive net spend during this period. “You’ll never sing that.”

Secondly, the disillusionment

Only Nottingham Forest (151) and Chelsea (142) have witnessed more departures than Wolves (126) since the start of the 2020-21 season, while at four years and nearly nine months, Nelson Semedo is the club’s longest-serving player.

That is the shortest of any Premier League side. So who at Molineux dares buy a shirt with a player’s name on the back? It marks a gamble, an expensive one at that, and deprives supporters of any real connection.

The bond is frayed. At any given point since Wolves were last in Europe – the 2019-20 Europa League – it has become impossible for fans to watch their side and think this will be the team that gets us back there.

The players leading the way are more likely to be poached, and this is a sinking feeling given the closest they’ve come to Europe since then is 10th in 2021-22.

It makes for a difficult watch. And this seeming acceptance of being a feeder club with no greater ambition must trickle through to the players, who are more likely fighting for a Manchester United or Manchester City contract than they are for silverware with Wolves.

They have lost Cunha, Ait Nouri, Pedro Neto, Matheus Nunes and Diogo Jota all to Big Six clubs.

Wolves aren’t alone in utilising this strategy. The issue is their trajectory. Brighton have matured into a Premier League side despite regularly selling their best players.

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The Seagulls’ first four seasons back in the top tier read 15th, 17th, 15th and 16th. Their most recent four reads ninth, sixth – which took them into the Europa League – 11th and eighth.

Owner Tony Bloom has drawn plenty of praise, and given both clubs rely on the South American market and unearthing gems across the European leagues, Wolves are failing in comparison.

They are only heading in one direction, and they will run the risk of relegation if they get another summer wrong.

That was almost the case 12 months ago, when failing to replace Maximilian Kilman at centre-back led to a 10-game winless run to start the league campaign and the eventual, inevitable sacking of Gary O’Neil in December.

Head coach Vitor Pereira has restored faith, bringing a feel-good factor back to the local pubs as well as Molineux. The signing of defender Emmanuel Agbadou looks inspired, but the loss of Cunha – who scored 15 Premier League goals and assisted six last season – is a significant blow.

Like Chumbawamba, Wolves have a history of getting back up again, but as is the case once again, it will come down to how they invest.

But… is change afoot?

Cunha and Ait-Nouri have gone, but so too sporting director Matt Hobbs, who took the role in November 2022 and subsequently oversaw the departures of Nunes, Ruben Neves, Neto and Kilman.

Hobbs left last week by mutual consent, pointing towards a restructuring where Pereira is set to have more of a say.

The Athletic reports Wolves are interested in former Sampdoria technical director Domenico Teti, but crucially agent Jorge Mendes and his Gestifute agency will reportedly take a more prominent role once again.

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Mendes’ influence saw Neves, Joao Moutinho, Rui Patricio, Raul Jimenez and Jota lead Wolves’ charge to Europe. While there was a shift away from the Gestifute factory under Hobbs, Semedo, Goncalo Guedes and Jose Sa are among the players from this agency still there.

The hope will be that Mendes still has the Midas touch, and can turn this boat around.

The increasing gap between Premier League and Championship clubs means they may not have to get it right straight away, but they are fourth with the bookmakers – after promoted trio Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland – to go down.

It would only take one of those clubs exceeding expectations to put Wolves in peril.

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