Wolves sold Max Kilman to West Ham in the summer but what came after was questionable decision-making from the club.
Wolves received £40 million from Kilman’s move to West Ham and had plenty of time to find a replacement.
The departure of the Wanderers captain left a void in Gary O’Neil’s defence that needed filling with only Toti Gomes, Craig Dawson, Santi Bueno and Yerson Mosquera ready to choose from.
Mosquera has since suffered an MCL and ACL injury in the defeat to Aston Villa after a promising start, and that leaves just three centre-back options to choose from with Toti returning to training ahead of Liverpool.
Despite the troubles Wolves have had in defence since Kilman joined the Hammers, the club were happy to progress beyond the transfer window without strengthening the position.
Matt Hobbs explains why Wolves never planned on signing Max Kilman replacment
Kilman was one of two outfield players last term to play every single minute in the Premier League, the other was Arsenal’s William Saliba.
The 27-year-old was always a ready and reliable option for O’Neil, who never suffered from any injury problems or fatigue.
Although many expected a new arrival in defence, Matt Hobbs has explained why they never planned on signing a fifth centre-back to replace Kilman.
He felt that with Mosquera coming into the fold after a successful loan at Villarreal, Wolves were fine to go into the season with their current options, particularly the Colombian, who they plan on developing into the next big thing.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hobbs explained: “Externally, some fans may feel we’ve left ourselves short. It’s actually completely married up towards what our plan was at the start of the summer.
“Playing four at the back, we’re not going to carry five centre-backs. No club of our level would.
“We had high hopes in Yerson and keeping a fifth senior centre-back happy would have been hard. With Max leaving, and Yerson coming in, we were perfectly comfortable with how that looked.
“You can look at goals conceded this season and say we didn’t replace Max but we had a poor run at the end of last season [with Kilman playing every game].
“That wasn’t Max’s fault, just like it’s not Yerson’s fault this season. We also have a strategy here where we like to have a young player in there to get them ready.”
Hobbs also revealed that, if Wolves did sign another centre-back, they would have loaned out Santi Bueno for regular football.
He added: “Even if we’d signed another one, and we were looking, Santiago Bueno would have gone out on loan for regular football.”
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Wolves punished for not signing a centre-back
Mosquera coming into the side has been a breath of fresh air, with the 23-year-old playing well alongside Dawson until his freak injury.
The young defender is now set for a full season on the sidelines, and while bad luck can’t be accounted for when drafting up a transfer plan, everyone knew that signing a centre-back was important.
Kilman was a leader for Wolves last term and was a reliable presence at the back, so instead of spending decent money on a successor to his legacy, the club have chosen to rely on youth.
Whilst their faith in youngsters must be admired, it doesn’t mean they were right to not sign a centre-back.
Not only would a more experienced professional steady the ship, but it would have meant Mosquera had more time to acclimatize to the Premier League instead of being thrown in at the deep end.