Wolves chairman Jeff Shi: "We'll hire the best"

Seventeen months after buying the club for £30million Fosun's plan of financing promotion to the top flight is starting to come together with Wolves seven points clear at the top of the Championship.

Tabloid reports last weekend suggested the Chinese conglomerate would provide 'limitless' funds to try and reach not just the Premier League but the Champions League, in years to come.

In response to those reports Shi says Wolves will only invest 'for value' – and that hiring experts behind the scenes would be just as important.

"We can invest, we will invest, but everything will be done as an investment for value," Shi told the Daily Mirror.

"We are looking at this as a business – maybe it is not so sexy – but we are investors and entrepreneurs for the long term.

"Interest in Premier League football is huge now in China and will be even bigger in years to come. And there is a huge market out there.

"We would like to establish ourselves in China. Perhaps in future even one or two Wolves players might be Chinese. Who knows?"

Wolves have made several changes behind the scenes since Fosun took charge.

The backroom football staff has been given a complete overhaul, new scouts have been hired and Andrew Findlay joined from Manchester United as a chief analyst.

Matt Wild became club secretary to replace the retired Richard Skirrow and a new-look board was finalised comprising Shi, Sky Sun, John Gough and John Bowater.

Kevin Thelwell became sporting director last year and Laurie Dalrymple was named managing director after Jez Moxey's departure.

Shi suggested that Wolves will continue to hire staff behind the scenes.

"We want the best," he added. "To be the best, we need the best people. We need the top people behind the scenes. We want experts in the industry.

"We understand that the best people may not be so cheap. We do want the best. But it is important to stress that this is a business following business rules.

"We did a lot of research. People have talked about our relationship with Jorge Mendes.

"Without that help, we would never have bought the club. We got a lot of advice from Jorge before the investment.

"And we thought to ourselves 'maybe we have a chance to do something special here'.

"It is not a normal investment for us. We are still learning. Last year we thought we were prepared. Now, we realise we were far behind the level we wanted to reach.

"It's not only about the money. There are richer investors than us but we believe we can be as successful. We would like to do it with less money but with the best people in the industry."