This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Wolves’ Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell has disclosed what the club’s ongoing plans are ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.
Speaking to Express & Star, he hinted that Wolves could target potential successors, rather than players who are ready to start.
What’s he said?
Wolves didn’t do too much business over the summer with the club instead opting for younger players like Pedro Neto and Meritan Shabani.
This came after an extensive period of recruitment in 2018/19 where they broke their transfer record to land Raul Jimenez while also bringing in new faces like Adama Traore, Jonny and the experienced Joao Moutinho.
Signings like that were few and far between last summer and the same looks as though it can be expected in January.
It’s previously been stated that Ruben Neves is not for sale while the possibility of signing AC Milan’s Franck Kessie has also been quashed.
Yet, speaking about the way Wolves are currently operating and what they might do in January, Thelwell said the following:
“I would not say we do not regard the opportunity to do more because we are always going to try and push for more and strengthen the group that little bit further but hopefully we can work on that and address that in the next window.
“I do not think we need a revolution at all. We have a very strong foundation, a very strong base, we have also talked about succession planning, staff and helping them grow into more senior roles.
“That is no different with players. We are succession planning all the time to make sure that we have players that are ready for if we lose somebody, or transfer somebody or if we want to support somebody.
“That is what the plan looks like.”
Mass influx isn’t needed
This speaks volumes about the shrewd operations that are happening behind the scenes at Molineux.
At first, it looked as though Wolves’ decision not to spend a huge amount last summer hadn’t paid off. They still lacked bodies and failed to win a single one of their opening seven domestic fixtures of the campaign.
But they have since bounced back, losing just one of their last 12 outings in all competitions. Despite the Europa League, Wolves have seemingly coped with their small squad.
Last season, Nuno Santo only opted to use 21 players in the top-flight. With that in mind, a mass overhaul or revolution was never going to take place given he likes to operate with a small group.
What Thelwell speaks about stems back to last summer too. Instead of targeting players who could instantly improve the first-team, they recruited individuals like Bruno Jordao, Flavio Cristovao, Renat Dadashov and Raphael Nya instead.
Only Jordao and Cristovao have been granted a chance in the senior setup so far but it shows that Wolves are planning for a brighter future, one that involves succession, rather than instant integration.
