Wolves did a lot of selling and a lot of loaning out in the summer – and Tommy Doyle was one man to depart.
Tommy Doyle first arrived at Wolves in the summer of 2023, joining on an initial loan from Manchester City, before turning the move permanent the following year.
Sadly for Doyle though, he could not build on his first season, with minutes hard to come by under both Gary O’Neil and Vitor Pereira. Especially the latter.
It was decided that Doyle should head out on loan for 2025/26 – and Birmingham came in for the midfielder. It was stated at the time that Wolves were comfortable letting Doyle go.
Birmingham have aspirations of returning to the Premier League, and their signing of Doyle was widely praised at the time.
He got off to a bit of a slow start, but it seems that Doyle is now really starting to hit his stride for Blues.
Birmingham fans are loving Tommy Doyle while Wolves lack midfield depth
Wolves ultimately decided not to sign a new midfielder, feeling that the right option did not come up.
This was despite loan exits for Doyle and Boubacar Traore already being sanctioned.
Doyle was simply not fancied by Pereira, who showed a clear preference for players with physicality and athleticism during his time as Wolves manager.
Doyle is not about those things and is, instead, a technical playmaker. And Wolves’ loss appears to have been Birmingham’s gain, with fans lauding his performance in the 4-0 win over Millwall earlier this week.
@J1975_: “Tommy Doyle is one of the most complete midfielders I’ve seen down blues since probably Barry Ferguson. He’s so, so good.”
@slantedblue: “Absolute game changer is Tommy! Bossing the midfield.”
@dave60776: “It’s not just the quality he has which alone is worth every penny. But also the fact he brings out the best in those around him too, as someone mentioned he’s freed Paik which has elevated him too.”
@Richdunbar5: “Said it before, he’s way too good for the Championship. Why Wolves let him go I’ll never know.”
@ChrisCOB_OB: “Tommy Doyle has ran the show the last few days of football at St. Andrews.”
Birmingham fans were previously annoyed about Doyle’s game time, but he’s certainly now becoming more prominent under Chris Davies, starting the last four Championship games.
Doyle shining for Birmingham is hard to watch
So Doyle is now really starting to purr for Birmingham – and that’s no real surprise.
He has a lot of experience in the Championship having had spells with Sheffield United and Cardiff City previously, so he was always going to make an impact.
From a Wolves perspective, this is a frustrating situation.
Doyle is clearly good enough to play for Wolves. It’s just that he wasn’t Pereira’s preferred profile.
Pereira’s preferences have led to the exit of a player who could genuinely have made a difference this season, as Doyle is an excellent playmaker. As we know, Wolves have had creativity issues.
Birmingham can sign Doyle permanently for around £10 million if they win promotion to the Premier League, and with the club just two points behind the play-offs, Wolves could very well end up losing him for that fee next year.
And it could be a double blow if Wolves go in the opposite direction to Birmingham.