Wolves offloaded lots of players in the summer 2025, and one player who is now thriving may also have departed.
Wolves have endured a very tough start to the new Premier League season.
And one of the main reasons for that is that Wolves did not have a very good summer. In short, too many players with lots of Premier League experience left the club, and new faces without much pedigree have come in.
Most of the new additions also came in late, meaning Vitor Pereira has not had much time to bring them up to speed.
Lots of exits were sanctioned, but one man who did not end up going anywhere was Santiago Bueno – and Wolves are now benefitting from keeping hold.
Santiago Bueno could have left Wolves in each of the past two summers
On Saturday night against Tottenham Hotspur, Santiago Bueno scored his first goal for Wolves.
The Uruguay international had been handed a second successive start, after he had impressed against Everton in the Carabao Cup – and he definitely justified his selection.
Not only did Bueno put Wolves ahead, but he was also just really solid throughout.
As per Sofascore data, his 15 defensive contributions were the most of any player to feature in the match.
It has been great to see Bueno thriving in old gold, and Liam Keen has said the defender may well have actually left the club in the summer, as he was not short of interest.
He said on The Keen and Judah Show: “He could have gone on loan last summer (2024). He was going to do, until Wolves didn’t sign a centre-back. And he could have gone on loan this summer, there were clubs certainly interested in him.
“He would have wanted to play, and I’m sure his people would have been interested in him going elsewhere to play. Vitor wanted to keep him.
“The player is a very good professional. Very quiet and unassuming off the pitch. He’s got his opportunity to shine and at the moment he’s taking it, so massive credit to him.”
- READ MORE: Vitor Pereira suggests there’s an underrated part of Santiago Bueno’s game he really likes
Bueno must seize opportunity at Wolves
Bueno has never really been a regular starter at Wolves.
He’s had stints in the starting XI, but these opportunities have mostly come due to other players being unavailable.
Currently, all the defenders are fit for Wolves – so Bueno is now getting a show of faith from the manager.
He must seize the opportunities being given to him. So far, he is doing that.
But with Wolves coming under a lot of pressure in games so far, he will be very busy on the pitch and he and Ladislav Krejci will come under the microscope.
But if Bueno – who became Wolves’ first inclusion in Troy Deeney’s Premier League Team of the Week – he can perform as well as he did against Spurs, then he will surely remain in the starting XI.