There isn’t much for Wolves fans to shout about at the moment, with plenty of negativity circulating Molineux.
Wolves may have secured their first win of the season last time out, a 2-0 victory against Southampton, but fans were still calling for Gary O’Neil to be sacked.
The Old Gold moved up to 19th however, they still have the worst defence in the Premier League with 27 goals conceded in 11 matches.
Supporters’ anger towards O’Neil is therefore justified, and it isn’t the only reason why they’re left frustrated.
This season, Wolves have used no club-trained academy players in the top flight while their stance on transfer is alarming.
Despite sitting second bottom in the table, Wolves only want to sign a centre-back in January, and that is a dangerous stance to have on transfers in their desperate situation.
- READ MORE: Three defenders Gary O’Neil could now sign in January as Wolves transfer plan becomes clear
Gary O’Neil says Wolves need to ‘stabilize’ before progressing
Fosun have become known for implementing a sell-to-buy model at Molineux, whereby the club brings in capital for their best players before only investing a chunk into the squad.
In the summer just gone, Max Kilman and Pedro Neto were the two latest big names to leave Wolverhampton, and neither have been adequately replaced.
Wolves are currently taking part in their seventh season back in the Premier League since promotion in 2018, yet instead of pushing on, the club is still looking to ‘stabilise’.
That is a comment O’Neil on the club’s future transfer budgets as he addressed the media in Friday’s press conference, as per Liam Keen.
“Wolves is a fantastic club, a big club,” O’Neil said. “But we’re still in the phase of trying to stabilise. After that comes progression but we’re not there yet, it will come later. Hopefully in the future we are able to progress the club.”
How Wolves spending ranks vs Premier League rivals
There is a constant balancing act at Molineux, with Fosun claiming players need to be sold to stay on the right side of PSR.
Wolves have come close to breaching the Premier League’s spending rules previously and now they’re unwilling to invest heavily into the squad.
In the summer transfer window, the Old Gold had a net spend of £40.7 million after spending £53m on talent and selling £94m worth of players.
| Club | Sold | Spent | Net spend |
| Manchester City | £146.9m | £33.6m | £113.3m |
| Wolves | £94m | £53.3 | £40.7m |
| Everton | £70.2m | £46m | £24.2m |
| Crystal Palace | £98.3m | £76m | £22.3m |
| Newcastle | £65m | £43m | £22m |
When ranked against other top-flight clubs, it’s no surprise to see that the Wanderers are second for net spend as they received more money than they laid out on transfers in the 2024 summer window.
With Wolves operating on a limited transfer budget, many will believe that PSR is no longer the problem, and it’s just that Fosun is unwilling to dip his hand in his pockets.