Wolves’ recruitment in the summer of 2025 was nothing short of a joke – and now a new claim has been made about striker Tolu Arokodare to further emphasise this.
Wolves have officially been relegated and will play Championship football next season.
Many saw it coming long before it was confirmed though, with the recruitment that was done last summer proving costly.
Should Tolu Arokodare play another minute for Wolves after his reported bust-up with Mateus Mane? 🤔
Shocking news coming out of Compton Park… 😳
Barring Ladislav Krejci, and potentially David Moller Wolfe, Wolves’ recruits did not live up to expectations.
And one man who now looks to be a very regrettable signing for Wolves is Tolu Arokodare.
Arokodare made headlines this week for a recent bust-up with Mateus Mane that resulted in disciplinary action from Wolves.
He’s likely to leave this summer, but there’s an argument to say he should never have been signed in the first place.
Vitor Pereira never wanted Tolu Arokodare
Last summer, Wolves failed to get the players they really wanted.
The most well known case was Marc Pubill, who seemed all set to join Wolves, only for Atletico Madrid to hijack the move.
Jackson Tchatchoua then signed, and he has proven to be massively disappointing.
Tolu Arokodare also wasn’t first-choice for a new striker.
According to the E&S in a breakdown of the club’s recruitment, Pereira had actually been ‘clear’ with the Wolves hierarchy that he did not want to sign Arokodare.
But, the Portuguese had to sign off on the only player they could get over the line. The E&S describe the situation as ‘a mess’.
Arokodare, of course, arrived on deadline day for Wolves.
Should any of these NOT be on this list? And are there any who aren’t there who SHOULD be on? 🤔
The Athletic have claimed Wolves would like these nine players to stay after relegation…
Shortly after Pereira left Wolves, it was claimed that he and Domenico Teti pushed through their targets over the suggestions by the actual recruitment team.
With everything that’s being written now, it just sounds like there was chaos behind the scenes, and it’s no surprise Wolves came into 2025/26 season with an underprepared squad.
Wolves’ 2025 summer window was a shambles
So the club had months to identify and do groundwork on strikers, but ended up splashing £25 million on Arokodare, who Pereira didn’t want.
Ultimately Pereira did approve him and others and also had a say in Wolves’ recruitment along with then-director of professional football Domenico Teti.
But there can also be some sympathy for him.
| Player | Fee |
| Fer Lopez | £20m |
| Jhon Arias | £19m |
| David Moller Wolfe | £10m |
| Jackson Tchatchoua | £10m |
| Ladislav Krejci | £6m (loan, £20m permanent fee to come) |
| Tolu Arokodare | £25m |
Even at the time, he was suggesting that Wolves needed to get a move on in the transfer market, but there was never any real urgency. Or competence by the sounds of things.
It was claimed earlier this season that Pereira almost walked away from Wolves before the season had started over recruitment, which is what Julen Lopetegui did.
This claim about Arokodare does go some way to explaining why he felt that way.
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