Liam Keen analysis: Failed transfer comes back to haunt Wolves

Wolves actually had two bids of £18million and £20million for Scott rejected, before then completely pulling out of the deal for a player that had already had a tour of the training ground a few months earlier.

Head coach Julen Lopetegui eventually walked away from the club just four days before the start of the season, having felt he was misled over the club's transfer plans, and Wolves have been in a never-ending cycle of disappointment since.

Under Fosun's ownership in recent years Wolves have gone backwards, not progressed as it had done when they first bought the club, and that is likely to result in relegation to the Championship this season.

Fast forward to January 31, 2026 and Scott scored Bournemouth's second in a 2-0 win at Molineux, condemning Wolves to their 18th loss in 24 top flight games this season.

Of course, there is now a new interim chairman and technical director in Nathan Shi and Matt Jackson, who deserve time to make long-term changes, but the mess left from Jeff Shi and Fosun needs a lot of work if Wolves are to become a success in the future.

Wolves' downfall is not directly attributed to their failure to sign Scott - but the midfielder's goal at Molineux on Saturday personifies the managed decline of this football club in recent years.

On the pitch, the reality is that Rob Edwards has made Wolves more competitive and has seen an upturn in performances and results, even if relegation is essentially inevitable.

On the balance of the match, Wolves probably did not deserve to lose against the Cherries and in the opening 25 minutes they were the better team by some distance.

Wolves started well, were full of energy, pressed aggressively and created chances. The one-two touches and connection between team-mates showed a team capable of getting points in the Premier League again.

Mateus Mane did have the ball in the back of the net early on, but it was rightly disallowed for offside as Rodrigo Gomes had gone slightly early with his run.

But overall, Wolves were doing well. R.Gomes was Wolves' best performer and proved why selecting him over Jackson Tchatchoua was the obvious choice, and only one team looked likely to score.

That was until Wolves shot themselves in the foot again. Andre, who is undoubtedly talented and one of Wolves' best players, delayed his pass to Hwang Hee-chan, who was in acres of space, and by the time he did play it, it was easily intercepted.

Bournemouth still had a lot to do to score and some neat passes and a sublime Junior Kroupi finish followed, but it was born from Andre's very silly and avoidable mistake.

Wolves were all at sea in the minutes that followed but were able to get to half-time losing 1-0.

The second half was better defensively and Wolves created plenty of chances, but took none of them.

Tolu Arokodare had a handful of opportunities on his own and one came from a Hugo Bueno cross, setting the striker up for a free strike from 10 yards, but it was straight at Djordje Petrovic.

Wolves were ahead on all the statistics metrics by full-time with a greater expected goals, more shots and they forced the goalkeeper into seven saves - but never truly looked like scoring.

As Edwards admitted after the game, a lack of ruthlessness was a real problem and Wolves lost in the most crucial metric of all - goals scored.

After Scott scored the second, Molineux began to empty and hardly any fans were left for Edwards' lap of the pitch at full-time.

Apathy was the general feeling. There was a smattering of boos but nothing substantial and no chants against the ownership.

Plenty of fans will also appreciate that Wolves were still in the game and should have got a result, but many are also waiting for the inevitable relegation to be confirmed.

Edwards deserves some credit for Wolves' recent improvement. Unlike previous defeats this season, they were competitive throughout the 90 minutes and should continue that until the end of the campaign.

But the damage was already done before his arrival after a dreadful summer transfer window, while the cracks were formed many years prior around the time that the club did not sign Scott.

The Bournemouth midfielder has since had a senior England call-up, while Wolves are heading to the second tier. The difference in trajectories is staggering.

Edwards' job between now and the end of the season is to maintain some pride in the club and team, while building that relationship with the players, ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.