““We coaches always sleep with one eye open in the summer,” Julen Lopetegui said two weeks ago, but he had been restless for a while. A manager first courted by Wolves seven years ago and secured at the third time of trying is history after nine months. Lopetegui leaving six days before Wolves begin their Premier League season at Manchester United hardly feels conducive to avoiding another slog against relegation. And to think Wolves thought they had allayed his concerns and that he would embark on his first full campaign in charge.
But are we really surprised? The grumbles of discontent have rumbled since Lopetegui suggested the goalposts had moved, claiming he learned the severity of Wolves’ financial constraints only at the end of last season. The noncommittals then were telling. There have since been handpicked interviews during which Lopetegui stressed the need for a deeper squad after a series of high‑profile departures, many of whom, it should be pointed out, rarely featured under him last season.
Lopetegui did not want another season of firefighting. That was not part of the lure last November. Last season he became the first Premier League manager since Nigel Pearson at Leicester, in 2014‑15, to keep a team up after being bottom at Christmas. He even made the point that the work of the sporting director, Matt Hobbs, and his recruitment team, including Lopetegui’s son Daniel, would be rendered redundant. Inside the club, the frowns and veiled messages grew tiresome. It had all made for an uncomfortable backdrop to what – on the pitch at least – has been a positive pre-season.
Lopetegui made clear his annoyance at how, in his eyes, the club lurched from one approach to another. Plan A went out of the window when Wolves signed off £80m of incomings in January, including a £44m deal for Matheus Cunha, but laboured the point that they could only do so by eating into the budget for this summer. Plan B was supposed to about dealing in smart buys – the kind of low-risk, under-the-radar signings that Hobbs heralded as recently as June – but calculations soon determined even those were beyond them. Plan C? Enter Gary O’Neil, who enhanced his reputation no end after keeping Bournemouth up.
An exodus of players was half‑expected this summer but the absence of any replacements left Lopetegui feeling twitchy. Rúben Neves headed to Saudi Arabia in a £47m deal, Nathan Collins to Brentford, Raúl Jiménez to Fulham and Conor Coady to Leicester. João Moutinho and Adama Traoré reached the end of their contacts. Lopetegui intimated Jiménez was sold without his say-so.
The hierarchy and Lopetegui agreed that Max Kilman, who attracted interest from Napoli, was deemed too important to sell and he is likely to be captain this season. Lopetegui made Bristol City’s Alex Scott, the Championship young player of the year, his priority target and wanted Nico Elvedi and Aaron Cresswell from Borussia Mönchengladbach and West Ham respectively. Those pursuits came to an abrupt end, with further sales necessary to fund any moves.
It has been a messy few months. Matt Doherty, who is represented by the super-agent Jorge Mendes, represents Wolves’ only outfield signing but in some ways the arrival of Tom King is more symptomatic of a dysfunctional summer. A free transfer for a third-choice goalkeeper was also a move without financial implications. King, who has spent the past five years in League Two, was identified by the head of goalkeeping, Tony Roberts, but less than a month later Roberts departed for Milan. Roberts was a respected and popular character around Wolves’ Compton training base and was in effect given autonomy when it came to goalkeepers: he brought in several coaches and was influential in the recruitment of Dan Bentley, who arrived from Bristol City in January. Neil Cutler, who left Aston Villa after Unai Emery’s appointment, has replaced Roberts.
For Wolves, it is imperative to post a profit in the balance sheet next May. In an open letter to supporters last week the chairman, Jeff Shi, reiterated the owner Fosun’s commitment but conceded that an increased wage bill and significant player expenditure in an attempt to keep pace with rivals were behind their dry summer. This season, for which the accounts began in June, is the big one when it comes to the league’s profit and sustainability rules, which permit a £105m loss across a three-year period. Wolves reported a £45m loss in the first year and estimated losses for the second are about £75m.
The financial picture is delicate but it is not as simple as offloading unwanted players as quickly as possible. Players on hefty contracts, both in wages and length, are problematic. Wolves have to consider how best to shift players. For example, it would be a financial disaster to sell Gonçalo Guedes, a £27.5m arrival on a five-year contract from Valencia last summer, for a cut‑price fee because it would impinge on their accounts before the end of the latest rolling three-year cycle. Guedes spent the second half of last season at Benfica and another loan would be in Wolves’ interest. “If we do manage it well this summer, next summer we will be more free financially,” Shi said.
Lopetegui’s demeanour in recent months was of someone who thought he was doing Wolves a favour – albeit on an enormous salary – and staff recognised the need to give a wide berth to an old-school manager who likes to keep himself to himself. But Lopetegui could still turn on the charm when he wanted and that seemingly helped to drag out a difficult marriage this long. “You have to try to become an actor,” the 56-year-old said of coping with defeat at the end of last season. “Sometimes I have to lie to my players because they depend on me. If you are dead, you cannot help them.”
