It seems a long time ago now that Fer Lopez completed a move to Wolves.
The young Spaniard was the very first new addition for the club in the 2025 summer window, joining from Celta Vigo.
It was the same move Jorgen Strand Larsen had made a year earlier, although Wolves straight up bought Lopez from the off, having taken the Norwegian on an initial loan basis before paying a permanent fee.
So far, Lopez has not had too much exposure to the Premier League.
Vitor Pereira has handed him just 103 minutes in the Premier League up to now, which some feel is far fewer than he really deserves.
Because, while he is still raw, Lopez has shown glimpses of creativity as far back as pre-season.
The hope is that soon he’ll really announce himself and live up to the fairly hefty transfer fee that Wolves paid.
- READ MORE: Dave Edwards shares one tweak Vitor Pereira can make to truly unlock Fer Lopez for Wolves
Celta Vigo president speaks out about Fer Lopez sale to Wolves
Lopez came to Wolves without much experience of first-team football, which is likely why we haven’t seen him too much thus far.
He had played just 20 first-team games for Celta, after coming up through their academy.
Just before his move to Molineux, it had been reported that Lopez wasn’t particularly happy with the nature of the transfer to Wolves.
He was keen to make the move, but it was suggested Lopez’s entourage felt Celta had pushed the move in order to balance the books.
This has now been confirmed by Celta’s president Marián Mouriño, who said in an interview with Faro De Vigo: “As we have made the salary limit for the last few years, we always end the season having to make a sale. That does not mean that we had to sell Fer López, but there was talk throughout the season that Celta should sell approximately thirty million euros to balance the accounts.
“This, although it is difficult to understand, is like a credit that the league gives you because you have sold the previous seasons and you can spend it or not.
“If you spend on a sports squad above your salary limit, you have to replace it at the end of the year and you do that by selling. So, we had to sell for that amount. I came out saying that I was not going to sell for the sake of selling. But an offer arrived from the Fer representative that interested all parties, which met sale numbers that we had planned.”
Mouriño added that without the Lopez sale before June 30, Celta would not have been able to keep the squad intact and afford new signings Ilaix Moriba, Borja Iglesias, Bryan Zaragoza and Ferran Jutgla.
She also suggested that other players might have been sold before Lopez, but he was essentially their biggest asset and the easiest way to alleviate their financial pressure to then help build their squad again.
Pereira must hand Lopez more minutes
The admission by Mouriño that Celta needed to sell may well point to the notion of Wolves getting Lopez a bit cheaper if they had waited slightly longer.
Lopez was unveiled by Wolves on June 20, so perhaps if Wanderers had played hardball Celta may have caved ad sold for less. But of course, there may have been a risk of another club coming in.
| Fewest minutes played for Wolves this season (all competitions) |
| Ki-Jana Hoever – 108 |
| David Moller Wolfe – 145 |
| Fer Lopez – 176 |
| Tolu Arokodare – 185 |
| Yerson Mosquera – 211 |
Wolves got their man, and fans are now waiting for him to get a run in the team, which hopefully will happen soon.
Opportunities have been few and far between so far, but Lopez has come across as a very determined and humble young man since he arrived at the club.
One gets the feeling his time will come, and hopefully Pereira will soon be willing to give him that proper chance.