Matt Maher: Critical hours ahead both on and off the pitch in Wolves' battle against the drop
It is possible we have entered the most pivotal 72 hours in Fosun’s ownership of Wolves.
First up, on Saturday evening, comes a derby with Villa which offers Vitor Pereira’s team the opportunity to breathe new life into their survival battle.
Even more importantly, with regard to their long-term prospects in the latter, is Monday night’s transfer deadline, by which time both the head coach and supporters will hope to have welcomed at least a couple of new additions to the playing squad.
So far Emmanuel Agbadou has been the only arrival and the past week in particular has been frustrating, with Wolves seemingly close to securing the signing of another defender, Kevin Danso, only for the deal to go astray. It now seems likely Danso will end up at Juventus or even Villa, depending on how the next couple of days play out.
Transfers in the modern game can be awfully tricky, even more so in the January window when the selling club knows you are desperate to get deals over the line.
Even so, fans are more than entitled to question the lack of activity to this point. It has been clear for months Wolves needed reinforcements so to be so close to the deadline, with plenty left to do, is far from ideal. Supporters might ask, where is the urgency?
It is a far cry from two years ago, when Wolves also entered January in trouble but were pro-active in quickly completing the signings for Matheus Cunha, Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson among others.
This time there have not been the deals or the results, Leicester’s win at Tottenham last weekend sending Pereira’s men back into the bottom three and delivering a reminder you can’t depend on other teams to remain poor.
Villa’s visit, less than 72 hours on from their Champions League win over Celtic, feels an opportunity for Wolves. Unai Emery has just 12 senior outfield players available and Villa have struggled to get results in matches following European nights. All that said, the one team they have beaten this season after playing in the Champions League is Wolves.
That came back in September when Wolves remained confident they would soon be climbing the table. Now it needs action both on and off the field to maintain such belief.
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