Liam Keen comment: A near-perfect Wolves window, now it’s over to Bruno Lage
Wolves took their time but the summer transfer window has been a huge success – albeit if some of the shine was taken off on deadline day.
The arrivals of Nathan Collins, Goncalo Guedes, Matheus Nunes, Sasa Kalajdzic and loanee Boubacar Traore – alongside making Hwang Hee-chan’s loan permanent – has seen Wolves shell out just over £113million on impressive transfers. Take into account the £25million that Wolves received for Morgan Gibbs-White – which will swiftly rise to £35million and potentially £42.5million – and Wolves have made some very astute financial and footballing decisions.
Albeit it has not quite clicked on the pitch yet, on paper the squad has much more quality than last season, is more balanced and is now built in Lage’s vision.
Last year Lage had to play with a squad that was, for the most part, Nuno Espirito Santo’s – hence why he stuck with a back five formation.
This year, Lage has not only taken the plunge with the system change but he has shipped out the majority of Nuno’s era.
John Ruddy, Fernando Marcal, Romain Saiss, Conor Coady, Willy Boly, Leander Dendoncker and Patrick Cutrone have all left. Lage is making this team his own.
Boly’s departure also means that Ruben Neves is the only first-team player remaining from the squad that won the Championship in 2017/18.
Also, the fact that Wolves have kept hold of Neves is nothing short of sensational. After his comments at the end of last season it seemed inevitable he would leave, but the star midfielder remains.
The transformation is remarkable and Lage now needs time to make it work.
However, what was probably an A grade window quickly became a B+ with the transfer deadline day moves. Traore’s arrival, replacing Dendoncker, means Wolves have not considerably weakened in midfield, but the quality at centre-back is a slight concern.
Craig Dawson was expected to arrive, before West Ham pulled the plug, and Wolves had to swiftly cancel their proposed deal to send Yerson Mosquera on loan to France.
Now, they are left with Max Kilman and Nathan Collins as starters and Toti Gomes and Mosquera as the back-up options.
The club have high hopes for Gomes and Mosquera but they are very inexperienced and Wolves now run the risk of injuries putting them in a difficult position. Also, they only have three full-backs and a perfect window would have seen someone arrive in that position.
