Wolves are doing extremely well this season, but an injury crisis is threatening to derail things for Gary O’Neil, leading some to wonder if the club could dip into the free agent market.
Wanderers lost two more players at the weekend, as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pedro Neto were both withdrawn against Fulham.
Thankfully, Wolves were able to rally and beat the Cottagers 2-1 despite those setbacks.
They join Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan in the treatment room, although there has been word that Cunha may not be out for too much longer now. His recovery has been going well, and the Brazilian is said to have an outside chance of facing Coventry City in the FA Cup quarter-final.
Recently, Gary O’Neil said that his squad was ‘creaking’, with the likes of Craig Dawson and Joao Gomes also picking up knocks in recent weeks.
Wolves have a small squad so the situation is not ideal, and journalist Liam Keen has been speaking about whether the club could actually make any moves for free agents…
Wolves not currently tempted to dip into free agent market despite injury crisis
Last season, Wolves used the free agent market to sign Diego Costa, with Fabio Silva having already been loaned out and Raul Jimenez struggling with his fitness.
The move was ultimately successful. While Costa only scored one goal for the club, his fighting spirit was crucial as Wolves battled against relegation and he was one of the standout players in the last two months of the 2022/23 season.
This term, Wolves have had a small squad, which got even smaller after the January window, with Sasa Kalajdzic, Fabio Silva, Jonny Castro Otto and Joe Hodge all departing.
Given the outgoings and the current injury crisis, some have wondered if Wolves could bring in any players from the free agent market. But journalist Liam Keen says this is not something that is currently being considered.
He said on the E&S podcast: “No, I don’t think so. they have the opportunity to, I believe, because their squad isn’t full, the Premier League squad they have to register isn’t full.
“But as far as I’m aware it’s not something Wolves are considering. I’d be very surprised if anything developed on that front. It’s a pretty confident ‘no’, but I will update if anything changes.”
Understandable at this stage of the season
This is perhaps not all that surprising really, because if Wolves were going to use the free agent market, they probably would have done so already.
If there was anyone out there with genuine quality and played in the right position, then you would imagine Wolves would have made an approach.
It is a situation that Wolves are just going to have to try and manage as best they can.
O’Neil has worked wonders this season, even when he hasn’t had key players available. He’ll continue to try and find solutions, and will probably turn to the academy if things get any worse on the injuries front.