Johnny Phillips: Wolves now afforded time after their strong start

Calm has been restored; the playing squad is on-board with the coaching staff and the league position removes any clamour to spend their way out of trouble, as happened last winter.

The win over Manchester City was not a one-off and supporters have been given encouragement that there is more to come after the stunning comeback against Spurs. Nobody is getting carried away, though.

Those in attendance at Bramall Lane know the VAR decision against Sheffield United did not mask a dreadful half of football against limited opposition. Wolves are still capable of putting in a shocker and O’Neil wants greater consistency from his side.

His squad will not be dramatically strengthened in January, with very little money available.

The recruitment department is working on bringing in at least two forward players – a central striker and a winger.

The consensus at Compton is that Fabio Silva has had his chances. The coaching staff do not see a future for him at Wolves, but his departure is not a straightforward issue.

Whereas some recognise the club must suffer a huge financial hit on the player and make a clean break, those who write the cheques still want to recoup a large sum of money.

That is surely unrealistic, but it may lead to the player leaving on loan rather than being allowed to depart permanently, despite it being better for all parties if a definitive line was drawn under the episode.

Che Adams is regarded as a short-term option to come in, but the player is believed to be wanting to run his contract down at Southampton in order to take up more lucrative options in the summer, which makes any deal difficult.

Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho has also been spoken about, but his club is under no pressure to sell.

A couple of options from abroad are being seriously considered instead and this is a more likely source, particularly as the January window is not usually full of options.

O’Neil’s major request during the last window was for a ‘number nine’ type striker.

That didn’t materialise and he has worked particularly hard at getting the most from Matheus Cunha, who does not see himself as a conventional nine.

The Brazilian has been persuaded by the coaches that he is the best option in that position within the current squad.

Although he does not savour the role, Cunha has shown adaptability and character to get on with the job which has drawn admiration from O’Neil.

With Pedro Neto’s injury, and long-term future not at Molineux, there is also a search for a ball-carrying winger.

Pablo Sarabia made an incredible impact last weekend and was spoken of in glowing terms by O’Neil after the match, but there is a suspicion that despite his obvious technical ability he may not be entirely suited to the physical demands of the Premier League.

Neto has been phenomenal this campaign and told the club he is fully committed to seeing out this season, at least.

But, not unrealistically, he also considers himself the next cab off the rank following in the footsteps of Diogo Jota, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in being permitted the big transfer that provides a step up.

As an aside here, the Neves deal was only a step up in financial terms. However, his agent has already been in talks about his next move and we may see the midfielder at a Champions League club sooner than expected.

Jonny is a more likely departure than Neto in the window, but the full-back would not command a significant fee, which is why the recruitment team is pragmatic.

The Tommy Doyle transfer model is attractive to Fosun’s current risk-free approach. Securing a young squad player on loan from a top Premier League club on a no-obligation-to-buy basis appeals to the ownership. But it is difficult to have sustained success on that front.

As Chelsea were prepared to do with Cole Palmer, if you want a Manchester City midfielder to walk straight into the team and deliver, then you need to pay a premium. Doyle is much more of a work in progress.

There has been significant change in the way Wolves’ ownership wants to operate, which is more in line with the wider company’s current strategy.

After a difficult post-pandemic outlook, the summer brought better news for Fosun when S&P Global, the internationally-recognised financial analytics firm, lifted Fosun’s rating from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’.

This followed a sustained period of lowering debts and selling assets and it led to a share price rise on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Over £3billion of debt was wiped from the business.

“After the recent round of deleveraging, we expect the company to focus on core assets,” S&P Global asserted.

Despite being dwarfed in financial terms by many of Fosun’s other interests, Wolves enjoys an elevated position within the conglomerate due to its visibility and global Premier League platform, as well as chairman Guo Guangchang’s obvious affection for the club.

Wolves received a £99m loan from the UK Export Finance government department in 2022, which was only made public this year, to aid cash flow and help reduce the cost of borrowing from other entities such as Macquarie Bank, where interest rates are much higher.

This is a core aim of Fosun’s – reducing borrowing costs – and it would go some way to explaining why there was a reluctance to put money into the club during the summer.

Unless there is a significant change of direction in Shanghai, this next transfer window and beyond will follow a frugal path governed by the priority within the hierarchy of reducing Fosun Sports Group’s debt and the interest payments attached to that.

Keeping Wolves competitive in the Premier League is an ongoing challenge.

This is a talented squad growing in confidence that it is on the right path. Achieving greater balance is the next step, which is why that number nine slot has become such a priority.

The defensive strength in depth is not there either, perhaps masked by the current solidity of the back three.

O’Neil is still someway short of having the personnel he wants to bring a more front-foot pressing style to the pitch.

But the team is clearly in a much better position than many expected after the summer upheaval.

While there was no first-choice candidate when Julen Lopetegui vacated the post in August, the recruitment department deserves credit for quickly identifying O’Neil’s adaptable talents during the interview process.

It is only mid-November, but given the nature of this season’s Premier League, there is no danger of Wolves slipping into the kind of relegation trouble they found themselves in at this stage last season.

Can O’Neil’s Wolves become a long-term success? That will depend on the ownership’s approach to recruitment and whether the coaching staff can build on what has already been achieved if squad strengthening becomes possible.

But the one commodity that has been earned at Molineux is time, ensuring this will not be a winter of discontent.