Wolves were always going to lose several players this summer.
So far, Wanderers have seen some big guns depart, including Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Pablo Sarabia.
If Wolves do not get their recruitment right this summer, then the club could potentially endure another difficult season.
Vitor Pereira’s narrative has been very clear since the end of last season – he wants new players and to make the squad competitive.
There needs to be two quality players per position ideally.
And one area of the team where this has not been the case is the goalkeeper.
Jose Sa had a poor start to last season, but he actually did well once Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil.
But the man who was brought in to compete with Sa, Sam Johnstone, struggled. And now, his days as a Wolves player may well be numbered.
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Sam Johnstone being nowhere to be seen in Wolves training is ominous
Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone points.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Johnstone signed for Wolves for around £10 million from Crystal Palace.
He initially played ahead of Sa, who had seemingly been knocked by the arrival of another number one-standard ‘keeper.
But Johnstone didn’t impress, and eventually lost his place to Sa.
And once Pereira arrived mid-season, Sa became the clear favourite again.
Towards the end of the 2024/25 campaign, Johnstone missed the final seven matchday squads for Wolves.
The reason given for his absence was that he was dealing with an injury. But plenty of Wolves fans began to question what they were being told as the season came to a close.
Because Johnstone had also missed a number of squads throughout the season due to injury and also illness.
On Tuesday morning, Wolves released the first pictures of the players returning to Compton Park for pre-season.
13 first-team players are back at Compton, but Johnstone cannot be seen anywhere, suggesting he may not have returned.
This is surprising, because Wolves have permitted players who were involved in international football to return later.
£10 million signing Johnstone (BBC Sport) hasn’t played over the summer, so surely he should be there with the others – unless there’s an agreement between Pereira and Johnstone for him to stay away while he sorts his future.
Wolves must offload Johnstone this summer
The Johnstone transfer felt strange at the time, but it has really proven to be one of the worst deals the club have done in recent times.
It was recently claimed that Sa nearly joined Chelsea last summer, so perhaps the intention was for him replace the Portuguese.
But Sa ended up staying, and Johnstone then lost the battle with him to be the number one at Molineux.
A general view of Molineux Stadium
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
With him seemingly not returning for the start of pre-season training, it feels like the writing could now be on the wall for Johnstone, who is a loan target for Sunderland.
We know Pereira is strong enough to keep players away from the first-team if he does not feel he needs them, with Craig Dawson being banished by the manager .
Certainly it’s a situation that is shrouded in mystery, and his conspicuous absence in the new training photos perhaps does point to a potential exit.