Dave Edwards: Wolves are a world away from when I left the club

I spoke to Bruno Lage after the Southampton game – the first time I’d properly met him – and we had a good chat. He offered me a chance to come to training, which was a really nice touch.

I went along with my son, who is a massive Wolves fan, so it was a dream come true for him.

In the last five years the place has absolutely transformed, you wouldn’t believe it’s the same football club.

The standard of everything at the training ground is exceptional. The canteen, the gym, the medical side, the dressing rooms, the football pitches, the auditorium – it’s absolutely insane.

It gives every single player an environment to be the best possible footballer they can be.

I’d never want to leave the place! I’d get there as early as I can and leave as late as possible with those facilities. It shows how much Fosun have invested in the future and how they want Wolves to be a top end Premier League club.

We were also able to watch training up close. I’ve always wondered what it would be like for myself if I was dropped into a Wolves team or training session these days and how I would cope – and the answer is I wouldn’t stand a chance!

The pace of the training, the physicality and quality – I was blown away by it all. Also Lage and the detail he goes into. They were on the pitch for two hours and the preparation was brilliant.

Everything is there now for Wolves to really take off as a football club. They’ve made huge strides in recent years but the foundations are there to be a top-half Premier League team as an absolute minimum. The manager, players, staff and facilities are incredible.

Meanwhile, although everyone would have liked to play Liverpool at the weekend, with their schedule and form, on the flip side it gives more training time for Diego Costa and other new arrivals.

The valuable time on the training field will help Wolves in the long-run and especially someone like Costa, who has not been playing football recently.

That time without a game will be invaluable to both Lage and Costa as they get him up to speed.

He’s one of those players that you’d love to have in your team and opposition teams and fans will hate it at the same time. That galvanises the group and gives you a bit of a siege mentality.

Maybe that edge is what Wolves have been missing, because technically they’re brilliant. The one piece of the jigsaw that has been missing is the killer instinct in front of goal.

Someone of Costa’s know-how, that nasty streak he has in him, it will add a different dimension. I’m praying it’s a Costa that is at least 70-80 per cent of the player he was at Chelsea.

I don’t expect his legs and ambition will be gone, but I just hope we get a decent version of him. If we do, it’ll be a massive game changer for Wolves. A lot of Raul Jimenez’s goals came from lurking at the back post and having crosses hung up to him. But Wolves need to get across defenders, attacking in between the centre-backs and finding that space – that’s where goals are scored.

Having Costa, with his knack of getting across defenders and taking up the right positions, that will be huge.

Matheus Nunes will also be big in this and the way he breaks from midfield. He’ll occupy defenders and maybe give the striker more space.