Wolves transfer watch

Just a few days now until the summer transfer window closes at 11 pm on Friday 31st August and we are waiting to see how much of the funds received for the sales of Fletcher and Jarvis will be reinvested in players. Counting the sales of Kightly and Guedioura the Molineux coffers have been boosted by in excess of £25m so far and there is the possibility of more sales during this week.

Kevin Doyle is the subject of much speculation with Everton and Aston Villa reported to be interested, and there has been rumours of Premier League interest also in Stephen Ward with him too being linked with a move to Everton if Leighton Baines is prised away by Man Utd. And there are a number of other Wolves players that have been made available for transfer with Berra, Hunt, Hamill, Jonsson and Milijas on the list and Batth available for loan. Berra has recently regained his starting place so may be staying.

So it’s worth taking a look at how the squad is fixed if those players do end up leaving.

Goalkeepers: Hennessey (out injured until November), Ikeme, De Vries (linked with Liverpool), McCarey
Right Backs: Zubar, Foley (currently injured), Doherty
Left Backs: Ward (linked with a move), Elokobi
Centre Backs: Johnson, Berra (transfer listed), Stearman, Margreitter, Batth (linked with a loan), Mouyokolo (injured)
Wingers: Peszko, Hamill (transfer listed), Hunt (transfer listed), Forde, Boukari
Central Midfield: Doumbia, Henry, Milijas (transfer listed), O’Hara (out injured until November), Edwards, Jonsson (transfer listed), Davis
Strikers: Doyle (linked with a move), Ebanks Blake, Sigurdarsen, Nouble

Thats 31 players with two unavailable through injury until November, and 7 or 8 set to leave. So even with the expected departures there are enough players there to form a squad, but the quality of the cover players was questioned last season and again became an issue on Saturday when even with only a couple of absentees the squad looked to have little depth. The arrival of Boukari will plug the gap left by the departure of Jarvis but what else is needed?

If De Vries were to leave this week then that would leave Wolves light on keepers until Hennessey is fit, so a loan signing may be needed there. A full back is needed as they have remained the same for a few years now and remain sometimes vulnerable, and Zubar in particular has not been at his best this season. If Margreitter is one to immediately challenge for a centre back spot then there looks enough cover there as long as Berra stays. If Hunt and Hamill both go there is little cover for the wide players. And in central midfield, until O’Hara is available, there looks to be a lack of creativity. And if Doyle were to leave then there is little cover up front. So two or three players look needed this week to give the squad the depth it needs. Once Friday has gone Championship teams still have a window where they can make loan signings and that may well be something to look at to give more competition for places, and Frimpong is only three weeks away from returning to training at Arsenal!

The next game for Wolves is a trip to Northampton on Thursday for a televised League Cup game. Wolves won 4-0 this time last year in the same competition and Solbakken will probably give game time to some of the fringe players. It looks a good opportunity for Margreitter, Boukari, Nouble and Sigurdarsen to get a start and some of the players on the list might get the chance to advertise their talents or even secure a future at Wolves.

Then on Sunday Wolves travel to Cardiff for the 4th league game of the season. With a win, a draw and a defeat so far it would be good to get a positive result there before a two week international break to take stock of the final squad and the start of the season. Whether Wolves will be good enough to be promotion contenders this season will probably depend on how well and how quickly their new multi national squad adapt to the rough and tumble of English Championship football. And it will be some time yet before we really know how the season will go.

Category: Team News