It was a very interesting summer at Wolves on the transfers front and on the whole, the club had a decent window.
Wolves made seven new additions and also signed Tommy Doyle permanently from Manchester City after the midfielder spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Molineux.
Wolves finished with a flourish, signing three players on deadline day.
Sam Johnstone arrived, and there were also late deals for midfielder Andre and winger Carlos Forbs, and Wolves hope they can all make an impact relatively quickly. Johnstone has already made his debut and looked good against Nottingham Forest.
It was a relatively positive window in the end from Wolves, although some are slightly concerned that an experienced central defender was not brought in.
Wolves tried, with Nayef Aguerd emerging as a late target – but in the end, they just couldn’t get anybody in. However, it looks like a new centre-back will indeed be on the agenda in January.
Wolves to target a centre-back and a left-back in January
There is a lot of football to be played between now and the January transfer window.
There is an outside chance that Wolves may be in a position where they do not need to make additions.
But most supporters are predicting that Wanderers will be lower down the table come then and that the squad will need bolstering.
According to The Athletic, Wolves are set to try and sign that experienced centre-back that evaded them in the last window, which will be music to fans’ ears.
The club will also target a new left-back.
Rayan Ait-Nouri hasn’t had a good start to the new season and there are question marks over his ability play in a back four. Hugo Bueno, of course, has been loaned out to Feyenoord for the season.
Toti Gomes is an option to play on the left. But O’Neil may well want a more natural fit.
Wolves did sign Bastien Meupiyou who can operate centrally and on the left. But he is only 18 and he will likely need a bit of time to develop before featuring for the first-team.
Wolves must lay the groundwork
It won’t come as a surprise to learn that Wolves are going to go after a centre-back in January, as the club were clearly in the market for one in the summer.
For one reason or another, they just couldn’t get one who was suitable.
The notion of the club searching for a new left-back is interesting, because arguably there is a need for a player who is more of a specialist in that position.
Ait-Nouri and Toti are not natural fits and neither is Matt Doherty, who sometimes fills in there.
We’ll see what Wolves are able to do.
It could be that this plan changes and that Wolves revert back to a back three with wing-backs, which is a system that suits both Toti and Ait-Nouri much better. If that happened, there would potentially be less of a need for a new left-back.