COMMENT: Should they stay or should they go? Wolves' summer decisions analysed
With Wolves' season all but over attention is now turning to what is a huge summer ahead for boss Kenny Jackett.
Wolves' squad certainly needs a rebuild in certain areas - and Jackett says in today's Express & Star that a striker is his number one priority.
But with squad depth having been an issue this season, and the emergency loan window now scrapped, it's crucial Jackett has enough quality and quantity from August onwards if a promotion campaign is to be forthcoming in 2016/17.
Six players are out of contract this summer, and a further three are currently on loan at Molineux with their futures up in the air.
So what will become of them? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers analyses who should stay and who should go.
Who, I hear you ask. Razak Boukari, that's who.
The man Wolves signed for £2.5m in 2012 (plus, at a very conservative estimate, a further £1.5m in wages), and who's made just six appearances in gold and black.
I'm not saying the guy's injury prone, but he'd probably pull a muscle if he did the washing up a little too vigorously.
By all account a nice chap, and someone with undoubted football ability.
Aged 28, he'll undoubtedly go elsewhere and shine, probably in France, but Wolves can't take another chance on him.
Where did it all go wrong, as Oasis sang in 2000 (presumably not about the strength of their dwindling musicianship)?
'Did you keep the receipts?', Noel Gallagher warbled, on the underwhelming (there were many) Standing of the Shoulders of Giant track.
Well, in Rowe's case, receipts weren't needed. He moved on a free transfer in 2014, but 'underwhelming' could sum up his two-year Wolves stint.
Arrived from Peterborough as one of the best players at League One, but hasn't made the step up to the Championship.
In fact he's appeared just 18 times under Jackett, often in a two-man central midfield, or as a fully-fledged left winger, and failed to fit in.
Ironically he'd probably fit into the current system quite nicely, but George Saville has the shirt.
Tragically from a journalistic perspective the whole Saville/Rowe combination just never really happened.
Rowe will no doubt thrive for a League One club, ala Michael Jacobs at Wigan.
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Tough one, this. Recalled by Sheffield Wednesday this morning, owing to a minor injury crisis at Hillsborough.
Not the long-term answer to Wolves' left-wing problem, which sees Jackett awkwardly needing to fill the gap before Jordan Graham (late 2016) and Michal Zyro (April 2017) return from long term injuries.
But it'd be interesting to see what he can do from left back, as his defensive work has been sound and he can break at pace and swing over a decent cross.
Has he done enough enough to command a fee of, say, £800,000 - £1m? No, but could be a good squad addition to cover two positions that Wolves aren't blessed with big numbers in.
Wolves were hoping they'd get his prolific Stockport/Rochdale/Rotherham/Reading/Bolton goal record (169 in 417 appearances - a goal every two-and-a-bit games) not his goal-shy Cardiff one (three in 25 appearances).
Sadly they've got the latter.
That's down to a combination of a Le Fondre not being at his best, and Wolves not getting the best out of Le Fondre.
It's been clear from fairly early on that he doesn't fit into Jackett's preferred formation, certainly not as a lone striker.
A partnership with Benik Afobe showed some promise, but Le Fondre has often had to do the dirty work of chasing down the channels and trying to control 40 yard lumps upfield (QPR away was a particularly undignified example), which just isn't his game.
You want him in the box, feeding off chances. Sadly, chances aren't really Wolves' thing this year.
A permanent deal was set up when he started his loan deal last summer. It's highly unlikely that it'll go ahead.
A few early clangers straight out of the Frank Spencer textbook had people legitimately wondering whether this guy was actually a product of Arsenal de Sarandi's youth academy back in his native Argentina, and not Arsenal Football Club from that London.
But once Jackett stopped playing 'pin the goalkeeper on the donkey' and finally picked one gloveman to regularly play between the sticks, Martinez shone.
As a goalkeeper he's got it all. And as much as some supporters took a disliking to local lad Carl Ikeme being dropped, it couldn't be argued that Martinez wasn't a worthy incumbent of the number one jersey.
A very solid run of performances was ended through injury - a thigh problem that persisted for some weeks - and by the time he returned Ikeme has re-established himself.
If he returns to Arsenal he'll find Petr Cech, David Opsina and possibly Wojciech Szcz?sny (currently on loan at Roma) ahead of him in the pecking order, while 6ft 6in young Englishman Matt Macey has been on the bench at the Emirates of late and provides further competition.
So there may be a move to be had - and Jackett has hinted he'd like to buy Martinez. He's undoubtedly good enough at this level and Wolves need two first-team keepers.
If the price is right, sign him up.
Spent most of the first half of the season on Shrewsbury's bench, which suited nobody.
Returned in January and after a few under-21 appearances was dispatched to League Two side Crawley, where he's scored one in four games.
Aged 22, it's been a now-or-never season for the Cannock lad, and it just hasn't happened for him.
If he'd made an impact similar to that seen by Jordan Graham (Oxford), George Saville (Millwall) or Lee Evans (Bradford) this season, a year extension could have been on the cards.
Certainly capable of forging out a good career in the lower leagues, and possibly higher if he realises his undoubted potential, but at Wolves he's likely to forever be known as the hero of 10k to MK.
Now aged 24, believe it or not, and really needs to be playing week in, week out.
Began pre-season under a cloud after being given a four-month suspension by the FA after failing an out of competition drug test for a non-performance enhancing substance.
The Irishman has made just 30 career appearances (seven for Wolves and the rest on loan at Walsall, York, Portsmouth and Bury), with a spell at the latter frustratingly cut short in October.
Wolves have Jon Flatt and Harry Burgoyne also on their books, making five in total with Ikeme and possibly Martinez.
That's a decent number, and they may look to give McCarey another year.
But whether the popular keeper wants that is another matter. Regular football has to be his priority now, and that's unlikely to come in Wolves' first team anytime soon.
The great Albanian-born hope. Naughtily hailed as the world's first £100m footballer by former academy boss Chris Evans - and it's a tag that has held heavy around his neck.
"This year is a very big year for Zeli," Jackett said last summer. Well, he hasn't delivered.
Sent to familiar surroundings at Burton (he spent six months there in 2015), Ismail made just three sub appearances for the promotion-chasing League One side, owing to injury.
A month at League Two Oxford was equally as fruitless, before he completed the posh university set by switching to Cambridge in March (a temporary deal at Harvard beckons next season).
Eight appearances and one goal (in this week's 7-0 thrashing of Morecambe) represent a better return, but it's likely to be too little, too late.
Wolves may take pity and give the 22-year-old another season, as if he can have a year injury-free there's undoubtedly a player in there somewhere.
With James Henry, Jed Wallace and Nathan Byrne ahead of him in the pecking order, combined with Ismail's recent injury record, the chances of him staying are slim.
Bjorn again, Bjorn to run, Siggy Stardust, etc, etc.
Giddy excitement greeted Sigurdarson's Istanbul 2005-esque comeback in January. Written off just a few months earlier by Jackett, who said the Icelandic striker had no future at the club, Siggy took advantage of injuries and the sale of Afobe to push his way up the pecking order.
The initial signs were good - he was lively, confident and playing the lone striker role with aplomb.
But when no goal was forthcoming, his levels dropped, and of late the restless natives have turned on him.
It's been more than 28 hours of football since his last Wolves goal (August 2013, versus Port Vale).
That's a long time for a defender who doesn't go up for corners, let alone a striker.
Jackett clearly sees something in him, and with Le Fondre likely to leave, Wolves have only Nouha Dicko and Joe Mason as senior strikers next season (Bright Enobakhare may add to that list) and are desperately short up front.
If he'd scored four or five goals he'd be a shoo-in for a new deal, and it still wouldn't be the biggest surprise if he was handed a one-year extension, given the qualities he possesses that other Wolves strikers don't, and Jackett's love for a physical yet mobile front man.
And here's the full list of when the rest of Wolves' players are out of contract.
2017
Carl Ikeme
David Edwards
Mike Williamson
Danny Batth
Jon Flatt
Connor Hunte
James Henry (option of extra year)
George Saville (option of extra year)
Lee Evans (option of extra year)
Jack Price (option of extra year)
Ethan Ebanks-Landell (option of extra year)
Sylvain Deslandes (option of extra year)
Connor Ronan (option of extra year)
Bright Enobakhare (option of extra year)
2018
Nouha Dicko
Kevin McDonald
Conor Coady
Jed Wallace
Nathan Byrne
Matt Doherty (plus extra year option)
Jordan Graham (plus two year option)
2019
Joe Mason
Dominic Iorfa
Michal Zyro
Kortney Hause
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