Wolves are having a productive summer – but a couple of decisions they’ve made may lead to some struggles for one player in 2024/25.
Gary O’Neil has already made a few additions to his squad this summer, and it’s expected Jorgen Strand Larsen and Pedro Lima will complete their moves to the club this week.
The manager will have wanted a positive summer after a poor end to last season, and so far it’s been an active window for Wanderers.
Wolves have done some interesting business so far.
Rodrigo Gomes signed for Wolves a couple of weeks ago, having really impressed on loan at Estoril last term. And Lima’s move to Molineux will be announced imminently.
And these two transfer decisions by Wolves will make next season a very interesting one indeed for one player in particular.
Matt Doherty now has strong competition at Wolves
Last season, Matt Doherty was the understudy to Nelson Semedo to play at right wing-back.
Semedo was a firm favourite for O’Neil, and was one of the manager’s most-used players. He made 41 appearances for 3484 minutes across all competitions, signifying his importance.
That meant little opportunity for Doherty, who by contrast made 37 appearances but for just 1693 minutes.
O’Neil actually did deploy Doherty as a left wing-back on occasion when Rayan Ait-Nouri or Hugo Bueno were not available.
But it was certainly tricky for him to get regular minutes due to O’Neil’s unwavering faith in Semedo and Ait-Nouri.
Now, Wolves are bringing in two players who will make his task of getting more minutes ever harder.
As we saw last season, Rodrigo played mostly as a right wing-back for Estoril. So it’s possible O’Neil will be happy to use him in the same role for Wolves. Perhaps the manager will turn to him from the bench in some games to replace Semedo.
And then, of course, Wolves are about to sign Lima, who will reportedly be going straight into the first-team squad, not the U21s.
Granted, these two players will need time to bed in, and learn how Wolves play.
But they are two extremely talented youngsters, and both could soon be ready to play in place of Semedo when needed. The fact they have both been signed nice and early will perhaps mean less time is needed for them to settle.
Doherty will still be useful
So that is now three other players who can play at right wing-back, although Rodrigo could well be used as a winger.
It is not an ideal situation for £50,000-a-week star Doherty, who rejoined the club last summer as a free-agent.
Doherty did address his lack of minutes for Wolves last December, with O’Neil saying at the time: “Doc understands. He’s disappointed, of course, with how little game time he’s had and I’m disappointed as well that I’ve not managed to find a way to use him more.”
He would surely still love to play more, but one can only imagine him playing fewer minutes in 2024/25 than last season, unless there are injuries.
But Doherty still does have a lot to offer. Joe Hodge said of the star last October that he ‘couldn’t ask for a better professional to look up’ than Doherty, so clearly his experience and leadership will be important for Wolves.