Summer 2023 Transfer Window Thread

[Mile End Wanderer]

I can't wait to see the back of this team.

I think it's really telling that Lopetegui has mentioned, on several occasions, that we need players who want to be here. It's hard to prove, but there's so many who I genuinely think don't care. Not in a completely give up, but they'll play, do the bare minimum and the result doesn't really bother them one bit.

Roll on the summer.

Well said

 

[Bryce]

I can't wait to see the back of this team.

I think it's really telling that Lopetegui has mentioned, on several occasions, that we need players who want to be here. It's hard to prove, but there's so many who I genuinely think don't care. Not in a completely give up, but they'll play, do the bare minimum and the result doesn't really bother them one bit.

Roll on the summer.

Sad
But probably accurate

 

[Dan G WWFC]

Ruben can play in any team. I wouldn’t have him in a two man midfield but he surely can play faster if he’s asked to. Get some legs around him and it’s happy days.

Lemina Neves Gomes

Great midfield that needs better, more creative attacking players wide and up front.

We keep trying that midfield and look terrible every time.

 

[Ned]

We keep trying that midfield and look terrible every time.

We’ve started with it twice.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

We keep trying that midfield and look terrible every time.

Bournemouth my word that was bad

 

[Evthewolf]

Here’s my opinion for what it’s worth. Lemina and Neves can’t (or shouldn’t) play together.

For me, Lemina is better in that deep role, he has an engine and seems to be able to cover that deep area in front of Kilman and Dawson, on his own.

Unfortunately, when Neves plays, he wants that role and so we lose a player higher up the pitch because they both end up doing what Lemina can do on his own. If they are both going to play, Neves should be much further forward. That might work but having them both so deep is ridiculous.

 

[Skrilla]

Here’s my opinion for what it’s worth. Lemina and Neves can’t (or shouldn’t) play together.

For me, Lemina is better in that deep role, he has an engine and seems to be able to cover that deep area in front of Kilman and Dawson, on his own.

Unfortunately, when Neves plays, he wants that role and so we lose a player higher up the pitch because they both end up doing what Lemina can do on his own. If they are both going to play, Neves should be much further forward. That might work but having them both so deep is ridiculous.

Doesn't suit Neves skillset to play further forward, but I agree two DM's doesn't work for us because we already lack in attacking areas as it is.

Immobile strikers, midfielders that don't want to get forward and wingers that don't create. Hardly a recipe for success in an attacking sense. The imbalance of this squad is a bit of a joke really.

 

[Evthewolf]

We also don’t seem to have anyone apart from Neves who will shoot from outside the box or if they do it usually ends up in row z. Haven’t got anyone who can get a header on target with power and accuracy apart from Dawson. Some of the most simplistic passes are over or under hit by a mile.

We have so many weaknesses, it’s no wonder we have struggled this season.

 

[lets all have a disco]

Time for Ruben to move on. We need a new style and approach next season and he wont be suited to it. Good luck to him. He has been a great servant to the club.

I laughed cause you make it sound that Neves is the problem....it's hilarious....the only bloke who has survived from our Good side...

Currently we have a team of players who are incapable of beating a man. Semedo toti Neto to deliver a ball or a team of players who can beat the man Nunes Cunha etc and still can't deliver.....

Neves , styles etc are not the problem....it's the basics we can't do ...we will be a lot worse team without Neves not better ..

 

[Dan G WWFC]

We’ve started with it twice.

Playing with 3 defensive midfielder isn't the answer. We need more creativity and goals from midfield. Stick with the 4231/442

 

[wolfgar]

I just made a mental list of all the players I’d 100% definitely have here in the squad here next season. In truth, that list really is not anything like as long as I’d like it to be. Serious additions required.

The list of players I think are simply a bit crap, or that are ok/decent, but I wouldn’t care if they moved on, is also far longer than I’d like it to be. I’d imagine lopetegui must think the same surely? He watches the same matches. Quite a few departures will be incoming for sure?

For me, a new GK, RB, CB, CM and 2 forwards would be where I’d prioritise new players coming in, with there to be at least as many departures? Jimenez, Traore, Neves, Jonny, RAN, Costa and Moutinho will all likely move on, but I can certainly think of others I’d seriously consider replacing - Semedo and Podence for starters. Had enough of watching both. £50 million we paid for those two ffs. Neither is totally awful, but on reflection its not exactly been a stellar investment. A few goals and the odd decent performance aside. We won’t get anything back like what we paid for the them either. Maybe half at best?

As things stand we have a very upgradeable set of players and a very good coach. Give him what he wants

 

[Monketron]

We also don’t seem to have anyone apart from Neves who will shoot from outside the box or if they do it usually ends up in row z. Haven’t got anyone who can get a header on target with power and accuracy apart from Dawson. Some of the most simplistic passes are over or under hit by a mile.

We have so many weaknesses, it’s no wonder we have struggled this season.

The Athletic did a nice article this week on every teams attacking output, in pretty much every metric they measured, Wolves were bottom or near bottom. xG created - 2nd worst, goals per match - worst, shots per match - 3rd worst , xG per shot (probably the most important one, as it shows how good you're breaking teams down) - worst.

Our stats were near identical to Southampton's as the worst in the league.

 

[Woolywolf]

This will be the most important close season we’ve ever had. A mass turnover of players, creation of our footballing philosophy and identity and embedding the formation and tactics

Lopetegui has executed phase 1 in keeping us up, but phase 2 a full rebuild is even more challenging. Genuinely believe we’re in good hands with him and his backroom team,…and Hobbs , but a huge few months ahead for our club

 

[RosehillWolf]

We need to spend a shed load of cash to get anywhere near the top eight. There’s many players past their sell by , many players not good enough , some players we need to keep
I don’t think FOSUN are going to furnish JL with enough cash for him to sort this **** out and even if they did , won’t FFP be an issue
It’s been a mess since we sold Jota and Doherty and then downgraded the team with their “ replacements “. Couple this with Rauls awful injury and we have drifted into a position that is not totally irreversible but it’s going to cost a lot more now than if proper investment had been forthcoming back then
You reap what you sow

 

[SA Wolf]

Be really interesting to see how deep Fosun want to dig into their pockets. Over the last 5 years, Wolves has the 7th highest net spend, which was fine when we were finishing 7th, but not so great when we were 13th and below and in a relegation fight. Our spend, according to Football 365 was higher than Liverpool and City and more than 4 times higher than Brighton who narrowly beat us recently. Just shows how poor our recruitment has been relative to other teams and the likelihood that Fosun will see their model of buy young and cheap and sell at much higher values as flawed.

 

[Justawolf]

I think there will be a good clear out this summer, saving a lot of big wages. Don't think we need to spend £40m+ on new recruits as when we have in the past they have mostly been crap. There are plenty of very good players out there who don't cost a fortune eg Dawson and lemina,and most of brightons recruits. Luckily for us lopetigue has a record of doing this at seville and I am very hopeful for a much better season next year

 

[JOSWolf]

I laughed cause you make it sound that Neves is the problem....it's hilarious....the only bloke who has survived from our Good side...

Currently we have a team of players who are incapable of beating a man. Semedo toti Neto to deliver a ball or a team of players who can beat the man Nunes Cunha etc and still can't deliver.....

Neves , styles etc are not the problem....it's the basics we can't do ...we will be a lot worse team without Neves not better ..

Neves is hardly the main problem. I have mentioned other players on this forum that need to leave. You misunderstood me unfortunately. It is best for him to move on this summer though I think. Others have said similar but not laughed at for some reason.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Sa
Kilman
Podence
Hwang
Traore

All need upgrading , after of course, we find a 15 goal a season striker

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

Doesn't matter if we find another Haaland it won't matter one jot who we have up front if we persist with this pass it back or sideways at every opportunity mindset. Will Lopetegui be given the cash to find players who can play like that is up to Fosun. These players are around and don't always cost huge amounts, I worry we will persist with what Mendes finds more lucrative to him.

 

[wwbug]

This last Man United match show exactly what our position is.

Possession WWFC 52% - Man Utd 48%
Shots on target WWFC 0 - Man Utd 9
How does that happen ?

 

[JOSWolf]

Doesn't matter if we find a Haaland it won't matter one jot who we have up front if we persist with this pass it back or sideways at every opportunity mindset. Will Lopetegui be given the cash to find players who can play like that is up to Fosun.

Mindset, style of play are as big as the personnel we sign this summer. Can’t be playing this type of football next season. It won’t wash with the fans for long.

 

[lets all have a disco]

Neves is hardly the main problem. I have mentioned other players on this forum that need to leave. You misunderstood me unfortunately. It is best for him to move on this summer though I think. Others have said similar but not laughed at for some reason.

Neves is no problem at all... totally sums up the delusion.....clearly our best player. ....else he wouldn't be looking to move for champions league football.....Neves will leave a massive whole in the team .....our talisman, our captain, nearly our leading goalscorer....what more can he do......don't worry I will laugh at anybody who suggests otherwise ...

 

[JOSWolf]

Neves is no problem at all... totally sums up the delusion.....clearly our best player. ....else he wouldn't be looking to move for champions league football.....Neves will leave a massive whole in the team .....our talisman, our captain, nearly our leading goalscorer....what more can he do......don't worry I will laugh at anybody who suggests otherwise ...

That is your opinion of course. For the record as I have said, Neves has been a great servant but I think the time is right for him to move on for his benefit and Lopetegui can build his team with a new approach. Strange thing to laugh at but there you are.

 

[lets all have a disco]

That is your opinion of course. For the record as I have said, Neves has been a great servant but I think the time is right for him to move on for his benefit and Lopetegui can build his team with a new approach. Strange thing to laugh at but there you are.

"Time to go ' straight after a loss suggests ,"get out"......you can wiggle all you like ....

It proper laughable I'm sorry....

 

[Skrilla]

The Athletic did a nice article this week on every teams attacking output, in pretty much every metric they measured, Wolves were bottom or near bottom. xG created - 2nd worst, goals per match - worst, shots per match - 3rd worst , xG per shot (probably the most important one, as it shows how good you're breaking teams down) - worst.

Our stats were near identical to Southampton's as the worst in the league.

When you see how we played yesterday, it does make you wonder how we're already safe when in an attacking sense we are absolutely dreadful. It comes to something when I'm envious of Palace's attack with Eze and Olise. On current form, who do we have that can make something out of nothing? Podence will try things but it rarely comes off. Neto doesn't seem like the same player. Adama only knows how to run in a straight line. Hwang creativity isn't his strength. Sarabia hasn't really impressed.

A couple of forwards with some flair and creativity would be near the top of my list this summer after a striker is sorted...

 

[clivewolves]

From my uneducated eye, it looks like we have a lack of cohesion in the playing squad and the tactics Lopetegui wants to play. The players don't complement each other. They each have their own qualities but they don't combine into a cohesive team. I could go through every player but just take Neves as one example. There's this idea that he plays it sideways and slows the play, which is fair to some extent. Is that Neves being a renegade or is he doing what Lopetegui wants him to do? We've all seen Neves play forward passes over the years. It was a staple that when he got the ball Jota would turn and run in behind and Neves would play a perfect pass. Neto makes the same runs but doesn't always receive the ball. Traore doesn't move unless he has the ball. Costa hasn't got the pace to make the run. From what I read about Lopetegui when he got the job was that he liked to build up slowly from the back and shift the opposition about to open up space. So maybe Neves is doing what he is asked to do, but other players aren't.

What I want from the summer transfer market is to come out the other end with real cohesion between the team and the tactics. If it's going to be a slow possession-based tactical set up then build a squad for it. If it's something else, then get the players for that.

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

Mindset, style of play are as big as the personnel we sign this summer. Can’t be playing this type of football next season. It won’t wash with the fans for long.

I agree, the style has to change drastically as next season we might not be so lucky as to just miss relegation by 4 or 5 points like this season.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

This last Man United match show exactly what our position is.

Possession WWFC 52% - Man Utd 48%
Shots on target WWFC 0 - Man Utd 9
How does that happen ?

Because they have players who actually try things.

We pass for the sake of it, they pass with a purpose. This is why I defended Podence yesterday. Yes, he gives it away, but he does try things and can make things happen.

There's zero pace in our side. There's no intensity, so we don't get numbers in the box. We just pass, pass, pass, and no matter where we are, we end up backwards.

It nearly summer it up when Antony had the great chance early on after Kilman slipped. We had a throw in their half and THEY ended up having a great chance from it, all because of our negativity.

We need energy, pace and dynamism this summer.

 

[so-called fan]

From my uneducated eye, it looks like we have a lack of cohesion in the playing squad and the tactics Lopetegui wants to play. The players don't complement each other. They each have their own qualities but they don't combine into a cohesive team. I could go through every player but just take Neves as one example. There's this idea that he plays it sideways and slows the play, which is fair to some extent. Is that Neves being a renegade or is he doing what Lopetegui wants him to do? We've all seen Neves play forward passes over the years. It was a staple that when he got the ball Jota would turn and run in behind and Neves would play a perfect pass. Neto makes the same runs but doesn't always receive the ball. Traore doesn't move unless he has the ball. Costa hasn't got the pace to make the run. From what I read about Lopetegui when he got the job was that he liked to build up slowly from the back and shift the opposition about to open up space. So maybe Neves is doing what he is asked to do, but other players aren't.

What I want from the summer transfer market is to come out the other end with real cohesion between the team and the tactics. If it's going to be a slow possession-based tactical set up then build a squad for it. If it's something else, then get the players for that.

Yes, I've read that too, and it's a bit of a worry. Might work in lesser leagues, not sure it's going to work in the PL. Besides, we're too slow and boring as it is.

 

[Cookyssweetleftfoot]

Be really interesting to see how deep Fosun want to dig into their pockets. Over the last 5 years, Wolves has the 7th highest net spend, which was fine when we were finishing 7th, but not so great when we were 13th and below and in a relegation fight. Our spend, according to Football 365 was higher than Liverpool and City and more than 4 times higher than Brighton who narrowly beat us recently. Just shows how poor our recruitment has been relative to other teams and the likelihood that Fosun will see their model of buy young and cheap and sell at much higher values as flawed.

I am sure when you factor wages into the equation that we are nowhere close to Liverpool or City on net spend which is why purely looking at transfer fees is only part of the comparison. That being said the Brighton comparison is pretty damning.

 

[wolfslair]

I've seen Dest, Abde and Nico mentioned. Would Dest be an upgrade on Semedo?

Yes, dest would be a definite upgrade on semedo

 

[wolfslair]

Wouldn’t turn him down. No idea whether he’s got the goals in him.

I would turn him down, he isn’t that good a finisher in a team that creates a good number of chances.

In the first game they lost to city this season, he missed a number of very good chances that a striker should be scoring.

He has never really delivered for a consistent period of his career. Just the occasional purple patch.

 

[Tring Wolf]

Because they have players who actually try things.

We pass for the sake of it, they pass with a purpose. This is why I defended Podence yesterday. Yes, he gives it away, but he does try things and can make things happen.

There's zero pace in our side. There's no intensity, so we don't get numbers in the box. We just pass, pass, pass, and no matter where we are, we end up backwards.

It nearly summer it up when Antony had the great chance early on after Kilman slipped. We had a throw in their half and THEY ended up having a great chance from it, all because of our negativity.

We need energy, pace and dynamism this summer.

Agree with pretty much all of that. It’s also why I probably like Nunes more than most as he at least tries things that are a little different.

Pretty sure I read a stat that the player who gave the ball away most times a couple of seasons back was De Bruyne. But he also had the most number of assists.

 

[Wolf 82]

Hoping the Gyokeres rumours are true.. would love to see a big, strong and direct number 9 leading the line.

 

[Royal wolf]

Because they have players who actually try things.

We pass for the sake of it, they pass with a purpose. This is why I defended Podence yesterday. Yes, he gives it away, but he does try things and can make things happen.

There's zero pace in our side. There's no intensity, so we don't get numbers in the box. We just pass, pass, pass, and no matter where we are, we end up backwards.

It nearly summer it up when Antony had the great chance early on after Kilman slipped. We had a throw in their half and THEY ended up having a great chance from it, all because of our negativity.

We need energy, pace and dynamism this summer.

That is the issue. Half the fans complain when we just take the easy option and pass it sideways, the other half complain when we try to be creative and give the ball away. I’d take the latter every day of the week which is why I prefer to see podence, nunes etc. We can be dynamic, we’ve seen in against Chelsea and Brentford, but we didn’t stick to the formula

 

[JOSWolf]

"Time to go ' straight after a loss suggests ,"get out"......you can wiggle all you like ....

It proper laughable I'm sorry....

I have been thinking about Neves leaving for a while now. You may think it is laughable me suggesting him moving on may be good for him and Lopetegui building his team but I really don’t think it is and it wasn’t just reacting to yesterday as you have mistakenly put.

 

[DanishWolf]

I seem to remember a time when people thought we would be better off without Jota..
It really didn't turn out that way..

I do agree that we need a more dynamic midfield. But Neves will be a gigantic loss, on a much bigger scale than Jota was.
Hopefully this time we replace property of course.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

That is the issue. Half the fans complain when we just take the easy option and pass it sideways, the other half complain when we try to be creative and give the ball away. I’d take the latter every day of the week which is why I prefer to see podence, nunes etc. We can be dynamic, we’ve seen in against Chelsea and Brentford, but we didn’t stick to the formula

I think Crystal Palace went almost 5 games without a shot on target at one point but since Woy took over they are much more attack minded
They are the same players just used better with a better mindset
We have been in a battle for survival ,so i can understand the they shall not pass attitude for most games, but we are safe now so no excuse,just push up the pitch ten yards more and get the ball in the box more often, if we dont shoot we dont score simple

 

[JOSWolf]

Hoping the Gyokeres rumours are true.. would love to see a big, strong and direct number 9 leading the line.

He doesn’t look that big to me. I am not sure about him at all.

 

[Stourwolf]

Not sure how he wants to play, but maybe we could try attacking

Spot on !