Michael Owen predicts where Wolves are going to finish in the Premier League this season

As the season draws near, many have begun giving their Premier League table predictions, with Wolves a topic of conversation.

Wolves‘ stock has dropped considerably in recent weeks as it became apparent that this summer’s transfer window would be a struggle.

Outside of the two loans which have been made official, only two free agents have graced the Molineux’s doors.

With much unrest currently at the club including reports which suggest Julen Lopetegui could eyeing up the exit doors.

Along with this new signing Matt Doherty admitted last week that the club ‘need’ new signings.

All of this will contribute to anyone predicting how the league table will look in May 2024.

Michael Owen predicts Wolves’ season

One man who has been busy formulating his Premier League table predictions is a league legend Michael Owen.

The Ballon d’Or winner took to Twitter as he gave his prediction for the entire Premier League table.

Wolves’ fans would be looking for their club in the list, only to see Owen has placed them in a relegation spot down in 18th.

A relegation spot is one, Old Gold wouldn’t have expected to be considered for prior to this summer.

The future had looked bright under Lopetegui, but now without new signings it could be a long season at the Molineux.

A season which if going drastically wrong, is doubtful the manager would want to stay for long.

Are Wolves a relegation candidate

No club, barring a top six side, can ever be sure they won’t be a relegation candidate.

All you need to do is look at Leicester City, they have gone from FA Cup final wins, to relegation in a few years.

That is what happens when clubs don’t get backing and players in who can inspire confidence.

Without any new signings over the next few weeks, we really are concerned about the upcoming season.

Hopefully for the club and for Lopetegui and the fans sake, a few new faces come in soon.

 

 

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Julen Lopetegui has voiced frustrations with the transfer policy and chairman Jeff Shi outlined the financial fair play issues holding the club back this summer but wider problems with Fosun investments must be taken into context

An agitated head coach early in pre-season never bodes well but it has been easy to understand Julen Lopetegui’s frustration as Wolves stumble from a suboptimal plan A to failing to execute their plan B.

Nine days out from opening their new season away to Manchester United, the former Spain head coach is pondering whether to walk away from Molineux because he is not convinced a squad that has been gutted because of the club’s need to satisfy financial fair play rules is capable of competing.

Lopetegui has seen 10 players, headlined by Ruben Neves but also including Adama Traore and veteran Joao Moutinho, head for the exit, with Matt Doherty the only notable addition having re-signed as a free agent following struggles at Tottenham and Atletico Madrid.

A deal to acquire Aaron Cresswell from West Ham has stalled and a move for Bristol City’s highly-rated Alex Scott has broken down because the Championship club are looking for £25m for their biggest asset, a sum considered too large by Wolves’ bean counters.

“We went to a plan B, trying to think about cost-effective players, but we can’t develop this plan, too. We lost a lot of players and we think the club want to sell more players,” Lopetegui said last month.

“It’s a pity because you are thinking at any moment key players can come and, in the end, they don’t for different reasons. We were excited by this new plan, but now we don’t have this plan because we don’t have any new players.”

The club’s explanation is straightforward – they must turn a profit this year to avoid being punished for FFP breaches – but has fuelled wider speculation around whether Chinese owners Fosun have a seven-year itch and are looking to sell up. That was firmly denied by chairman Jeff Shi in an open letter to supporters on Thursday evening that primarily underlined the FFP issue.

First Shi pointed to Covid-19’s “inevitable impact” which meant the club “needed to invest more afterwards to fill the gaps caused by the pandemic.” Another factor, he said, was “the ageing of some players and unexpected injuries” led to “a significantly increasing wage bill and player acquisition costs.”

But among those acquisitions has been “a lot of long-term investments into young talent that may not play for our first-team immediately, and those investments increase our asset value in the balance sheet but impact our profit and loss, especially in a net investment phase.”

Yet Shi went on to describe last season’s winter window, in which six players arrived, as “very unusual” and impacted what was left to spend this summer.

Clubs must not lose more than £105m over three seasons and recent estimates indicate that Wolves need to make a profit of around £10m this season. Their most recent financial accounts, taking into account the 2021-22 season, showed losses of £45m and they are forecasted to have lost up to £70m last season.

Shi, attempting to be optimistic, said that “if we do manage it well this summer, next summer we will be more free financially” but the gamble is that the financial consequences of relegation are far more grave.

Yet deep within the open letter was a veiled message to Lopetegui, who “has undoubtedly done an excellent job”: make do with what you have. “In my experience, the performance on the pitch is not only defined by simple additions of players, but by team spirit, chemistry, momentum, morale, leadership, tactics, training, hard work and a variety of other factors,” Shi wrote.

But what the letter failed to mention was the owners’ continued domestic problems. Last autumn the Chinese state told banks to check their exposure to Fosun because the conglomerate was struggling to get a grip on post-pandemic losses, largely linked to property investments, and its share price had plummeted by not far off 20%.

A streamlining has taken place and founder Guo Guangchang has described 2022 as a “perfect storm”, adding in March, that their assets have “fully recovered.” S&P Global have since improved their rating from “negative” to “stable”, prompting a rise in share price in Hong Kong.

Wolves are one small part of their straining empire and they are already seeking buyers for Swiss club Grasshoppers. Talks were held earlier this year over a sale of Thomas Cook, the travel agency purchased in 2020 by Fosun’s tourism wing, while industry experts say the have been contemplating dealing Club Med, the chain of luxury resorts.

Shi said that “Fosun remains committed to Wolves and has never had any plans to sell the club. The club is a long-term project and an important one for Fosun” but it is clear that their FFP battle is a micro problem that must be contextualised around the parent company’s macro issues.

Not that Lopetegui’s mood will improve should he remain and work with a squad that scored a league-low 31 last season, has lost its talisman in Neves and seen three other attackers exit without being replaced

Fans concerned by the financial realities, shallow squad and the potential of losing a sharp-minded head coach have not been soothed by the club’s decision to raise ticket prices either, making the mood one of dread in the Black Country.