Why Fosun must be blamed for Wolves’ rapid decline and not Gary O’Neil – analysis

Wolves’ Premier League status is once again in jeopardy as the club swirls around the relegation zone.

The 2024/25 campaign could not have gone much worse for the Old Gold. Sitting 19th in the Premier League, they have just two wins and are four points from safety.

Fans have now turned on Gary O’Neil after he has overseen one of the worst starts to the season in Wolves’ history.

Despite this, Fosun has continued to back O’Neil much to the anger of the Old Gold faithful.

Yet, with Championship football beckoning, this has become an inevitability for years thanks to the incompetence of Fosun.

Wolves’ butchered self-sustainable model

One of the biggest factors in Wolves’ decline in recent years has been the insistence from Fosun that the club operates on a self-sustainable model.

This allows the owners to put little money into the club with incomings, especially from sales, expected to balance the books.

This has seen Wolves’ net spend rapidly decline in recent seasons as they sold many of their star players.

In the summer, only Man City had a lower net spend than Wolves after the high-profile sales of Pedro Neto and Max Kilman.

Yet, it is clear that a similar model can work, with Brighton and Brentford also selling many of its top stars, so where has it gone wrong?

Fosun’s baffling transfer policy

When implementing a self-sustainable model, a club’s transfer business is crucial. However, over the past few seasons, much of Wolves’ business has been bizarre.

For example, Adama Traore’s loan move to Barcelona in January 2022 was the catalyst for the club’s collapse in form under Bruno Lage.

The winger inevitably didn’t even make a permanent move to the Spanish giants before he was released the following campaign.

In fact, the club have lost millions on multiple players after they ran down their contract forcing Wolves to sell them for a cheaper price or release them.

In comparison, Wolves’ incomings haven’t been much better. Instead of bringing in signings who will match the quality lost, the club have opted for risky purchases with a high potential reward.

The signing of Fabio Silva is the most obvious failure. The striker broke Wolves’ transfer record when he moved to the Old Gold for £35 million in 2020. It was believed the youngster had massive potential, yet that has never been seen in a Wolves shirt.

Despite these consistent failures, Wolves have only doubled down on this policy. Youngsters, Pedro Lima, Rodrigo Gomes and Bastien Meupiyou all came through the door in the summer but have had limited game time.

O’Neil has since confessed that the Wolves trio are not ready for regular football and are rather signings for the future.

This has allowed the ability of the team to diminish as more stars leave with this quality not being adequately replaced.

Read more: Wolves’ worst-ever signings in the Fosun era.

Fosun’s lack of investment in the club

On top of transfers, an owner’s investment in the club itself is crucial. The training facilities, stadium and academy can all help transform into a top team.

Yet, since Fosun’s ownership of Wolves, little has changed off the pitch.

Upgrading Molineux is seen as vital to the Old Gold fanbase. Many of the stands, particularly the Steve Bull, are in extremely poor condition and are no longer Premier League quality.

Not too long ago, Fosun expressed their desire to increase the capacity of Molineux but these plans now seem forgotten and the stadium has lay derelict for years.

Fosun has also failed to upgrade other areas too. Wolves’ youth academy has declined massively.

Since their promotion to the Premier League, few players have broken through into the first team with Morgan Gibbs-White being one of the only notable acceptions.

While there have been some upgrades to the Sir Jack Haywood training ground, it has not been enough to take the club to the next level.

Wolves’ last owner Steve Morgan was no doubt a controversial figure in Wolverhampton, but there are no doubts that the businessman left the club in a far better state off the pitch compared to when he joined.

For Fosun, few arguments could be made if the owners left tomorrow.

Read more: Relive Wolves’ best-ever Premier League goals.

Wolves’ lack of ambition has plagued Fosun’s current reign

With all these problems, we now see the repercussions in the present day. Wolves now languish 19th in the Premier League four points from safety with a fanbase who are slowly turning their backs on the club.

Outside of the club, many share this view. While seeking a potential O’Neil replacement, multiple managers have turned Wolves down due to the lack of ambition.

This is also not a new trend. Upon Bruno Lage’s sacking Wolves struggled to find a replacement and were stuck with Steve Davis in charge for seven matches.

Even then-QPR manager Michael Beale publicly turned down Wolves before moving to Rangers just months later.

Now, with a team full of internationals in an established Premier League side, it seems that Fosun have somehow managed to ensure the job stays unattractive to managers that could take the club to the next level.

It is therefore no surprise that every Wolves home fixture has gone on general sale this season. The lack of ambition shown combined with the outrageous ticket prices has caused many of the core fanbase to simply take their time and money elsewhere.

The hopes and dreams that filled the Molineux faithful in the early years have now gone, destroyed by the very people who gave the club its best years this century.

Its replacement is one of division and anger as Championship football has now become inevitable due to the incompetence of the hierarchy.