Wolves manager Gary O’Neil is starting to draw attention to himself with the work he’s doing at Molineux, and Graeme Souness has been speaking today about whether he could actually leave or be poached in the summer.
O’Neil has done a remarkable job during his seven months at Molineux after coming in as Julen Lopetegui’s replacement. He has taken Wolves up to the dizzy heights of ninth in the Premier League table, and also guided the club to an FA Cup quarter-final.
At the moment, fans are able to think about European football – which is something that was completely out of the question at the start of the season.
What O’Neil is doing right now is amazing, and last week, it was reported that the club are looking to open talks with him about a new contract, which would include a ‘significant’ buyout clause.
On talkSPORT earlier today, there was some talk about O’Neil and whether he could be poached by another club this summer…
Graeme Souness adamant Gary O’Neil is not going to leave Wolves this summer
At the moment, Wolves are sitting ninth on 41 points, which is as many points as the club managed in the whole of last season.
The European dream is very much alive for Wolves right now, but it will still be very difficult given the amount of injuries there are at the moment. Indeed, the manager recently admitted his squad was ‘creaking’.
But dreaming is for free, and O’Neil getting Wolves into the UEFA Europe Conference League or the Europa League would be a truly incredible feat.
Today on talkSPORT, Jim White asked if O’Neil achieving that could see him become a ‘wanted man’. he said: “[If Wolves were to qualify for Europe], has he already become the next wanted man?”
Souness replied: “No. You’ve gone early again, Jim. I know you have a job to do but you’ve gone early again. Let’s see where he is at the end of the season.
“Right now, I would say he’s done a very good job.”
O’Neil leaving Wolves this summer would be a major shock
Anything can happen in football but right now, Wolves fans would love to think O’Neil will be leading the club into the 2024/25 season.
Even if Wanderers do not secure any European football, this season has been a resounding success and O’Neil is building something extremely exciting.
Fans would like to hope he would not be tempted by a move elsewhere. Certainly, O’Neil has never been shy in saying publicly how much he’s loved his time at Molineux, and what a big honour it is for him to manage such a big football club. It would therefore be a huge surprise if he left this summer.
You get the sense that he is a very loyal guy, and surely he will soon extend his contract with the club.