Wolves - where did it all go wrong? Part 1: Recruitment

Mistakes on and off the field resulted in years of near misses, until it finally caught up with Wolves this season, with relegation confirmed as Nuno Espirito Santo's West Ham got a point at Crystal Palace.

This week, in a four-part series, the Express & Star investigates the many reasons Wolves have been relegated this season and first up it is crucial to address the club's recruitment, both last summer and in years gone by.

To sum it up simply, Wolves sold good players and replaced them with much worse ones in a tumultuous summer. They weakened the side and, exacerbated by how unbalanced it is, it is no surprise that they struggled.

Among a number of fringe players that also moved on, four key players departed at the beginning of the summer and Wolves knew for months that they would no longer be at the club.

Nelson Semedo was offered a ludicrously good new four-year contract, which delayed his final decision to leave the club on a free, but he was always set to sign elsewhere and take up a new challenge.

Pablo Sarabia, perhaps the least important of the four but someone with experience and who popped up with important moments during his time at the club, was never going to sign a new deal.

Then, the two high-profile sales were coming from a mile off. Matheus Cunha was Wolves’ star on the field and nightmare character off it, but his new contract in February 2025 included a £62.5million release clause.

That was included, essentially, to guarantee Cunha his move to Manchester United and ensure he did not down tools in the remaining months of the season as Wolves battled relegation.

On top of that, Rayan Ait-Nouri also got an early move to Manchester City in a deal worth up to £36million - which was perhaps below his value at the time.

Wolves offloaded players early and had a whole summer to get their recruitment right, but got it so badly wrong.

More than £100million was spent on six players who had not played a single minute of Premier League football between them.

Particularly when replacing Cunha, Sarabia and Ait-Nouri, Wolves were crying out for some creativity and ingenuity but instead brought in players that were woefully under-equipped.

Fer Lopez is a talented young player but was not ready for the Premier League, yet Wolves splashed £19.5million on him before sending him back to his former club Celta Vigo on loan in the winter. The deal is even more laughable when you consider that former chairman Jeff was adamant Lopez could be a starter this season.

Jhon Arias arrived specifically on the request of Vitor Pereira and Wolves were fortunate to make a profit on him in January, because his stint at the club was miserable for all parties.

David Moller Wolfe has done well enough when he has played, but has hardly got into the team, while Jackson Tchatchoua is a remarkable downgrade on Semedo.

Tolu Arokodare, who arrived for an initial £22.5million, has scored three Premier League goals and instead been more prolific at getting into arguments behind the scenes. An ugly clash with team-mate Mateus Mane the lowlight for a regrettable signing that Wolves are already trying to offload.

In fact, Pereira was clear to the Wolves hierarchy that he did not want to sign Arokodare but, in their fruitless search for another striker, he had to sign off on the only player they could get over the line. What a mess.

Of the six signings, only Ladislav Krejci has been a success. However, once he signs permanently this summer and his total cost will reach £26million, it has to be noted that Wolves paid almost double his market value due to a mix of desperation and Jorge Mendes’ influence acting as an intermediary for the deal.

Wolves did not recruit proven goalscorers, they did not recruit any creativity and they did not sign any leaders in a team that is devoid of any clear characters.

As well as looking at the players Wolves did sign, it is also important to look at the ones they did not.

Pereira wanted to sign Anton Stach in the summer but the club could not pull it off and the German international midfielder joined Leeds instead.

Juanlu Sanchez was the target at right-wing-back but was not keen on the move, while Marc Pubill agreed to join before changing his mind at the last minute when Atletico Madrid came calling. Pubill also wanted to include a relegation release clause, which was a sticking point with Wolves, but in hindsight the player was spot on.

Wolves also missed out on Christantus Uche despite advancing on a deal. That one fell through due Mendes interfering and the poor negotiating skills of Wolves’ top brass.

Before Matt Hobbs left his role as sporting director, he was lining up moves for Harry Wilson from Fulham and David Brooks from Bournemouth, two players that would walk into the Wolves team right now. By all accounts, Pereira was not keen.

Despite that, the biggest culprit is former chairman Shi.

His tendency to make decisions over and ignoring the advice of experts consistently damaged Wolves and weakened the team.

Domenico Teti, the former director of professional football who was essentially a Hobbs replacement, is not blameless for Wolves’ recruitment but it is understood he found it very difficult to work under Shi’s governance.

One of the biggest problems that many in the Wolves hierarchy have found working under Fosun and Shi is the lack of clarity over budgets.

A specific figure or plan was rarely laid out, which led to confused and scattergun transfer windows. Those in charge of sourcing players were often trumped by Mendes options, or surprised when money suddenly became available.

A great example is the deal to sign Matheus Nunes in 2022. All summer Wolves had made it explicitly clear that their days of big money signings were behind them and in August, before the window closed, they broke their record transfer to bring in Nunes for up to £42million.

It was a similar situation when they signed Cunha on loan in January 2023, before making it permanent for £43million.

In the same summer of 2022, it is understood Shi was specifically advised not to sell Morgan Gibbs-White and not to sign Goncalo Guedes as his replacement, and it is clear to see why that advice was forthcoming as it was a disastrous move.

From big money flops such as Fabio Silva, to terribly failed signings like Patrick Cutrone, Wolves’ recruitment took a nose dive from the previous successes under Nuno Espirito Santo and the string of Mendes signings.

Going back to 2024, Wolves failed to adequately replace Pedro Neto and Max Kilman, which led to a relegation battle that season, too.

It is no surprise that these recruitment failings have caught up with Wolves and it comes from mismanagement at the very top.

Do not miss part 2 tomorrow, where we explore the club’s leadership and the role of Jeff Shi.