Wolves offloaded many players in the summer of 2025, and for Dave Edwards, one of those exits hasn’t been acknowledged in the way it should.
At the moment Wolves are struggling badly, sitting rock bottom of the Premier League table in just two points from 11 games.
Wolves are eight points adrift of safety, and a relegation battle is nailed on. And some already feel that actual relegation to the Championship is inevitable.
There are many factors behind Wolves’ horrendous start to 2025/26.
But perhaps the biggest of all is the recruitment in the summer, which Domenico Teti and Vitor Pereira both had a big say in.
With so many experienced players leaving, Wolves arguably needed one or two proven Premier League players in this time. But that didn’t happen, and many of the new recruits are still finding their feet.
Of the players that left, Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri tend to be who people point to the most in terms of big misses.
Dave Edwards agrees, but also believes the departure of Nelson Semedo was significant for Wolves.
Dave Edwards says Nelson Semedo is a huge miss for Wolves
Semedo was one of a few players whose contract was expiring in the summer.
Wolves put a four-year contract extension offer on the table for Semedo, but always knew he would be unlikely to sign.
Sure enough, Semedo eventually confirmed he would be leaving, and the Portugal international then joined Fenerbahce on a free transfer.
On the Monday Night Club, Dave Edwards was speaking about Wolves’ transfer activity in the summer – and touched on how Semedo is greatly missed at Molineux.
He said: “When you keep selling your best players and not knowing that the replacements are going to be able to step into that void, then you might get a season like this season, where it doesn’t all come together.
“Unfortunately, the players they’ve replaced the likes of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri with… Nelson Semedo doesn’t get talked about enough. He’s a huge miss. He was the captain. Semedo was the one that in the middle of last season with all the fighting that was going on on the pitch, he was the one who brought the club really together. He was named club captain, and was very consistent.
“The players we’ve brought in, I think they’ll all be good players. But none of them have Premier League experience. And that’s what they’re desperate for.”
- READ MORE: Nelson Semedo just revealed the main reason he left Wolves, Vitor Pereira may not like it
Semedo’s exit is keenly felt
Semedo wasn’t without his critics during his time at Wolves, but his absence is definitely being felt this season.
For the most part Semedo was a very dependable player for Wolves and was also quite durable, rarely missing out through injury.
And as we saw last term, Semedo demonstrated leadership qualities when he took the armband from Mario Lemina. The calm he brought helped Wolves to focus and get points on the board in the Premier League.
At the moment, his replacement Jackson Tchatchoua is still finding his feet.
The Cameroon international obviously has searing pace and could be a real threat, but for some reason at the moment he isn’t being as direct as he perhaps could.