Gary Lineker has reacted to the news of Vitor Pereira’s sacking by Wolves – and identified the main reason for the club’s struggles this season.
Wolves lost against Fulham 3-0 on Saturday, giving one of their worst performances of the season.
Matt Murray blasted it as the one of the worst Wolves displays he’s ever seen, and angry fans made their feelings known after the final whistle.
Wolves then sacked Vitor Pereira. The hierarchy had made their decision after the defeat, and informed Pereira on Sunday morning.
Pereira’s position had simply become untenable. It seemed that no matter what he tried, nothing would stick and Wolves being winless after 10 games ultimately gave the board no choice.
Pereira’s sacking was a topic of conversation on the latest Rest Is Football podcast – and for Gary Lineker it’s clear where Wolves’ main issues have lay this season.
Gary Lineker blames Wolves’ recruitment as Wolves sack Vitor Pereira
The 2025 summer window was always going to be a defining one for Wolves.
Players were out of contract which meant they were likely to leave, and the sale of Matheus Cunha was inevitable. There was also always going to be a decent chance of Rayan Ait-Nouri leaving the club.
Wolves brought in six new players, and all of them barring Ladislav Krejci are still finding their feet.
Wolves need players to hit the ground running immediately, and that just hasn’t happened, and Pereira has now paid the price.
And it he who gave the final say on the players that came, so he must accept some of the blame.
On the Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker gave his reaction to Pereira’s sacking, and it’s clear in his mind that recruitment has been behind Wolves’ shocking start.
He said: “What chance have you got? It’s like a managerial merry-go-round isn’t it in many ways this whole thing? You could just see it. It’s like, he comes in, does a really, really, really good job last season. He took over from pretty much where they are now this season, and he turned things around.
“But last season he did have some talent. It comes to the summer, they sell their best two players. Ait-Nouri to Manchester City and Cunha to Manchester United. Then don’t really buy anybody else. Then things start to go wrong, surprise surprise, and whose fault is it?”
Pereira far from blameless for Wolves’ awful season
Lineker is right to point out Wolves’ recruitment as being a major factor behind the club’s terrible start.
But it must be acknowledged that Pereira played a major part in that recruitment,
| Wolves signings in the summer of 2025 |
| Fer Lopez – £19m |
| Jhon Arias – £19m |
| David Moller Wolfe – £10m |
| Jackson Tchatchoua – £10m |
| Ladislav Krejci – £6m loan, £20m fee next year |
| Tolu Arokodare – £24m |
Pereira and Teti were disconnected from the Wolves recruitment team, and the club went with the manager and director of professional football’s targets to comply with their wishes. It meant Wolves were late with their business.
For only one of the new recruits to have hit the ground running is really poor, so unfortunately, Pereira has to accept a fair chunk of the blame.