Wolves have suffered a setback in the race to improve their defence before the transfer window shuts.
Wolves need reinforcements over the coming weeks. While Gary O’Neil has managed to bring in some new faces, the losses of Max Kilman and Pedro Neto have no doubt weakened the team.
The defence in particular looks below standard, especially with how it performed in the latter half of the 2023/24 campaign.
O’Neil has stated that he is working on bringing in new additions to Wolves over the coming weeks. However, he has now hit a setback for one of his targets.
Wolves have bid rejected for Bastien Meupiyou
In their search for a new centre-back, one name who has recently come up is Bastien Meupiyou.
The Frenchman is believed to have plenty of potential and he made his debut for Ligue 1 side Nantes last season.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Wolves had placed a bid for Meupiyou. Multiple ‘top-end’ clubs are pursuing the defender but the Old Gold believed they could get the deal done.
However, according to Fabrice Hawkins, Wolves have now seen their bid rejected for Meupiyou. O’Neil’s side had offered €5m + €1m for the defender, but this was not deemed to be enough by Nantes.
An agreement in principle has been reached between Wolves and the player, however, nothing can progress until the agreed fee is met.
Wolves need to sort out their defensive issues before the end of the transfer window
Going into the new season, Wolves have four senior centre-backs. While O’Neil has stated that he wants to revert to a back four this season, there could be times when a back five is necessary.
Realistically, Wolves need two more centre-backs to help provide depth to the team – a top defender to replace Kilman and an upcoming backup like Meupiyou.
Depth was a major issue last season and Wolves cannot risk a similar situation happening this year in their defence.
This must be rectified over the coming weeks to ensure the club does not have another spell where it struggles to field a senior team.