Wolves are in a world of trouble at the moment, having still not won a game in the Premier League after eight rounds of fixtures.
Wolves sit rock-bottom of the table with just two points so far, and fans are deeply concerned about what awaits the club this season.
Jeff Shi felt Wolves had a good summer transfer window, but that is not a view shared by the fans.
The new recruits that came in, most of them late, are all gambles and by the time they have all adapted it may be too late for Wolves.
Wolves now have no game-changers in their squad following the summer window.
There has been a big focus on the sales of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, with Wolves really struggling to break teams down.
Arguably, they are both massive misses.
But there’s also another player Wolves really do miss at the moment.
Wolves miss Daniel Podence
Daniel Podence left Wolves in the summer of 2024, having spent the 2023/24 season on loan with Olympiacos.
He left to join Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia, but for the current campaign he has gone back to Olympiacos on loan.
Wolves have a real creativity problem at the moment, and Podence was undoubtedly a player who could make something happen in the blink of an eye.
While he could also frustrate with his tendency to overplay sometimes and his theatrics, Podence was potentially the most naturally gifted talent Molineux has seen in recent times.
Podence, who celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, finished his final full season at Wolves with a shot-creating actions metric of 3.51, which is impressive.
| SCA per 90 of Daniel Podence in 2022/23 | SCA per 90 of Wolves attackers in 2025/26 |
| Daniel Podence – 3.51 | Fer Lopez – 5.25 |
| Jhon Arias – 3.31 | |
| Rodrigo Gomes – 2.96 | |
| Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – 2.46 | |
| Hwang Hee-chan – 2.27 |
Comparing that to the current Wolves forwards, only Fer Lopez (5.25) has a higher metric, and frustratingly the Spaniard isn’t currently a regular starter.
Podence also scored six goals that term, with Wolves picking up a total of 11 points from games in which he scored. He also helped himself to one assist, and his SCA metric suggests he was very unlucky to finish with that few.
Right now though, Wolves are crying out for a player who can conjure something up out of the blue. And Podence was most definitely a player who could provide a bit of magic in an old gold shirt.
- READ MORE: What Daniel Podence did for Olympiacos at the weekend will have some Wolves fans squirming
Why Podence left Wolves
Podence’s exit from Wolves rather split the fanbase, but he was perhaps always going to be one of those players who would end up being missed.
Yes he was inconsistent and could frustrate, but Podence was a seriously talented technical footballer, who had a nice knack of delivering in big moments.
Ultimately, Podence left Wolves as he no longer shared the club’s vision according to former manager Gary O’Neil.
Podence also suggested Wolves didn’t value him as he wanted, saying: “I came here in a difficult situation, I went to England, I did well, but I felt that they didn’t value me as I wanted and I came back to a club where they like me a lot.
“I made a lot of sacrifices to come back (to Olympiacos), I heard a lot of people say it wasn’t the right step, it’s not a normal step to come from the Premier League to Greece, but I believe a lot in myself and my convictions.”