There’s something badly broken at Wolves - and the sale of star man Ruben Neves certainly isn’t going to fix it.
Yes, the sale of the supremely talented Portugal international could net the club around £50million, give or take. But the departure of a player at the peak of his powers sends another alarming message to the already worried Molineux faithful.
Any Neves cash won’t paper over the seismic cracks reverberating around the club at the moment. All the warning signs are there - and sometimes you feel it’s only the fans who can see it. Bruno Lage’s side blew a massive chance to break into the top six last season.
They were right there but limped into 10th spot after a dreadful end to the campaign, which saw them win just one of their last nine games and take a miserable two points from the last 21 available. Make no mistake, astute bookies wouldn’t give you any sort of odds for them to finish outside the bottom six next time around the way things are going.
The Chinese owners Fosun appear to want global domination without stumping up for it. More to the point, they are unwilling to invest too heavily this summer and chairman Jeff Shi has already put a cat amongst the pigeons by openly admitting they can’t compete with the elite clubs.
More scarily from a Wolves fan's perspective, they seem certain to be overtaken by the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle and end up standing still on a rapidly accelerating escalator. Asked this week if Wolves could spend to break into the top bracket, Shi’s two-word answer was almost chilling: "We can’t."
His observation that the model was to make the club “more corporate” couldn't have sent out a worse message. But the problem is, the team has a look about it that suggests its most influential players are coming to the end of the line.
Neves is brilliant, but he’s almost certainly off with Arsenal and Manchester United favourites to land him if he doesn’t hold out for a move to Spain. So what of the others? Raul Jimenez looks a shadow of his former self, which is understandable. The Mexican international suffered an horrific injury when he fractured his skull in a clash of heads with Arsenal’s David Luiz.
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He’s quite rightly an idol on the terraces and no one could ever doubt his application, attitude and his courage to get back from a career-threatening injury. But he’s not the same player he was: he just isn’t, and it hurts to say it. Last season’s goal haul of six is a far cry from the 27 the season before his injury which had him on the radar of a lot of the big boys. Then throw Neves’ brilliant midfield accomplice Joao Moutinho into the mix. He’s been one of the main cogs which has taken them on a wonderful journey from the Championship to Europe and seventh in the Premier League.
He’s out of contract in the summer and could be off because, at a few months off 36, Wolves aren’t showing any signs of committing to anything more than a year. It’s only 12 months ago that Adama Traore was one of Wolves’ most feared weapons and earned him a £60m price tag. Now he’s probably worth a third of that after Barcelona declined to make his loan permanent.
Skipper Conor Coady looks like sticking around, thank God. Not only brilliant and one of the best passers in the game bar none, Coady is a top guy - the heartbeat of Wolves. Pedro Neto is another who could hopefully blossom this season and give Wolves fans something to shout about.
But it’s hard to get too excited about the current situation, and it’s not panic solely based on the horrendous finish to the season. What happens next is the big question and if they get a wad of cash for Neves, will the owners trust Lage to spend it wisely or go for a change? Everything is up in the air.
