Fosun and Wolves’ failing transfer strategy that can’t continue

National World - LocalTV

A look at how Wolves have handled having star players…

Transcript

00:00Charlie, let's look at Wolves and their situation now, obviously. Let's just start with the

00:06star man Mateus Cunha. We've mentioned his release cause in his deal. So many clubs are

00:12looking at him this summer. I'm sure it's probably going to be towards the end of a

00:17farewell for Wolves. I mean, just how good has he been across the season for Wolves and

00:23how important has he been to their struggles this season? Because it has been such a tough

00:28watch at times for Wolves fans.

00:31It has been a tough watch. Obviously, I'm not a Wolves fan myself, but you are, Charles.

00:35And I imagine Cunha has kind of got you out of the dark ends of this Premier League

00:39season. You would be right in that Premier League relegation zone, I think, if it wasn't

00:43for Cunha. He has scored in every single one of Wolves' victories in the Premier League

00:47this season. He scored in half of their draws as well. So it just shows how important he

00:52is, one, to the goal-scoring threat, but also just the mentality and I think the morale

00:57of the team as well. We have seen a bit of a hot-headed side of it at times. He's had

01:02that sending off against Bournemouth earlier in the season, that moment with the Ipswich

01:05Town staff member as well. Not the best, especially when he's wearing the captain's

01:09armband. But in terms of individual quality, I don't think you'd want anyone else in

01:14this Wolves team at the moment. He's been incredible for them. And of course, if he

01:17does go in the summer, a massive loss, the £62 million would be a record sale for Wolves.

01:23And that means that they could probably go and rebuild with two or three attackers for

01:26that kind of money. So it's not all lost. Of course, it would be a huge blow if he did

01:30depart, but he's got to go, hasn't he, really? He's a Champions League standard player and

01:34Wolves, with all due respects, are not going to be in any European football, let alone

01:38the Champions League, any time soon.

01:41How long do you feel Fosun can keep this business model up? We've seen it multiple times

01:46now, where they've sort of invested in young talent or unknown talent and potential and

01:53they've gone right to the top. You look at Ruben Neves, Pedro Neto, you sell them for

01:57a big profit and you don't really reinvest. And then I think Wolves fans are probably

02:01feeling, OK, Neto sold last summer. A great, great season he had. He's gone on to better

02:09things. Neves the summer before and now it's Kunya, their best player, their next best

02:14player. How long can Wolves actually keep this up? Because it's not a real sustainable

02:19business model to keep you in the top flight. And they are almost finding that out by being

02:23so close to relegation in a few seasons in a row now.

02:27I think at the end of the day, there's only so much patience that Wolves fans can have

02:31dealing with that kind of treatment. You pay your money week in, week out to go home and

02:35away. You expect to see the best effort from your team as well. But when you've got those

02:39individuals, if they're sold, we want it to be reinvested because, well, you're investing

02:42your time, your money into the club. The owners should do the same. And in my opinion, I

02:46think if you're selling important players, you've got to bring in replacements.

02:50Otherwise, you're going to fall down the league standings. You could fall down a division.

02:53I mean, financially, that is incredibly costly, more so than bringing in the new players.

02:59If you go up the table, you're heading towards Europe. I mean, think of the income you can

03:02get from playing in UEFA competitions. Building towards that is incredibly important.

03:06I just don't understand the approach personally. I understand that PSR is a thing and that

03:11they have to make sure they don't lose one hundred and five million or more over a three

03:15year period. Wolves have been walking that tightrope a few times over recent years, but

03:19still got to reinvest. You've got to find a way, even if it's kind of installments further

03:23down the line or loan deals or options to buy or trying to find free agents you can

03:28bring in on a decent salary. They've got to find some way of replacing these players.

03:32And they just haven't been doing that at the moment. It's been really disappointing.

03:35And it looks like there could be a real clear out in the summer. Just give us any details

03:41about the players who could be coming to the end of their Wolves time.

03:45And I mean, there's a there's a load of names.

03:48So Wolves need to really reinvest this summer.

03:52Yeah, well, the first one is Craig Dawson, who I think most people have forgotten about

03:56at this point because he's not been in any Wolves matchday squads recently.

04:00Vitor Pereira doesn't want him around anymore.

04:02Unfortunately, he'll be leaving.

04:03Pablo Sarabia, it looks like he could be going back to Spain, potentially to Sevilla.

04:08You've then got Nelson Samedo.

04:09I think that's one player that Wolves really can't really afford to lose.

04:12His contract expires at the end of the season and there's no sign of him renewing.

04:16Obviously, you've got Kounia, we've mentioned.

04:18And then Ryan Aitnouri, the other full back.

04:21I think if he goes, that'll be a big blow for Wolves.

04:24Liverpool have been linked, AC Milan as well.

04:27I just I don't know who you can really replace Aitnouri with immediately in that Wolves squad.

04:31Maybe Rodrigo Gomez could fill in there.

04:33But when you're playing a back three or wing backs, it's quite difficult to have a player

04:37who can do the defensive side as well as the attacking.

04:39Has Rodrigo got that? I'm not too sure.

04:41So Aitnouri would be a big blow.

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