Mick McCarthy, when in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers, answered one pie-in-the-sky media question with a famous comeback. “These initials on my kit,” he said, “they don’t stand for Merlin the Magician, you know.”
It is difficult to pin an acronym on the current incumbent in the Molineux hot-seat, Vitor Pereira. But he needs the work carried out by Wolves this summer to be ‘Very Productive’ - and quickly - or else.
The mood in Wolverhampton - a one-city club where the old gold thread runs deep - is at tipping point. It’s not so much that the supporters are struggling to get to grips with the current situation. It’s that they are struggling to work out what Wolves are any more - what the club actually stands for.
Do the owners strive for excellence? Are they working towards improvement? Or is the grand plan just to survive in the Premier League, keep picking up the money and never truly competing? If the second of those statements is true, the net result of that is that Wolves will become little more than a footnote, an also-ran. And it is too big a club to be treated like that.
But the evidence is beginning to mount that this is exactly what’s going on. And when that happens, ambivalence sets in and interest wanes. The punters need something to believe in. That the next batch of recruits won’t go the same way as Pedro Neto or Diogo Jota - rest his soul - and quit for a better option.
Wanderers Took Gambles in Transfer Market
Jorgen Strand Larsen in action for Wolverhampton Wanderers
It sure is asking a lot for this new group of Wolves players to blend in within weeks, understand exactly what Pereira is seeking and adapt to a new level of football. To look at some of the positive benefits - and, yes, there were some - let’s start with the club’s leading goalscorer last term.
Jorgen Strand Larsen’s abilities were valued so highly by Newcastle United that they weighed in with a massive £55m offer. It was positive that the club said he wasn’t for sale - and then stuck to their guns. Had they cashed in when the Tynesiders came calling, it would have been akin to raising the white flag.
Jorgen Strand Larsen's statistics for Wolverhampton Wanderers this season
As it is, the summer transfer activity hasn’t been without some incomings, but the money trail doesn’t lie. The exchanges are slashing the prices on anything bad happening to Wolves. They’re now odds-on for relegation and are even now being mentioned in conjunction with finishing bottom of the Premier League.
Pereira’s mantra last term was ‘First the points, then the pints', but it could be a while before he sets foot in Wolverhampton city centre again after three defeats sucked whatever optimism there was at the start of this season out of the Black Country air.
And it’s little wonder. It’s not just the £100m exits of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri that will hurt. But also the departure of Nelson Semedo - the latest in the long line of club captains to leave - Conor Coady, Max Kilman and Ruben Neves, among others, have all quit for pastures new.
A lot of Premier League experience has left and a fair few goals, too, this summer and the replacements are nothing but huge gambles. It is asking a lot for the likes of wing-back Jackson Tchatchoua, defender Ladislav Krejci along with wingers Fer Lopez and Jhon Arias to set the place alight.
Not to mention striker Tolu Arokodare, who has arrived from Gent with a £24m price tag and the considerable weight of expectation around his neck.
Fosun Have Not Maintained Early Progress
Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman Jeff Shi
It’s difficult to know where to start with the owners, Fosun International. They came in with a bang, announced a formal tie-up with super-agent Jorge Mendes and began to turn dreams into a reality.
Qualifying for Europe through a seventh-placed league finish following automatic promotion to the Premier League, after romping the Championship, raised expectations. Given the level of competition, it was always going to be a tough ask to maintain that progress.
Now, however, any notion surrounding advancement is fanciful. What can Wolves’ fans hope for? As mentioned earlier, they have seen players arrive, use Molineux as a staging post and disappear into the ether.
In fairness, other clubs are in a similar position. Think Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion, for example. In this respect, Wolves are by no means unique. Players come, use the club as a stepping stone and then move on. It’s the way of the world. There is acceptance that this might be the way forward with the Eagles and Seagulls.
But not so much at Wolves. And why should any Wolves supporter settle for it? In fact, why should any football supporter? There’s no ceiling on ambition. But who wants to see their club used as a feeder for another? And that is what it looks like from afar. A medium-term trend has been established.
In the last three seasons, Wolves have finished 13th, 14th, and 16th. The dividing line between their success and failure is diminishing. They cashed in another £100m of talent a few months ago and are betting that they can replace like-for-like.
It’s happened for only so long at clubs such as Leicester City and Southampton, who managed a similar churn. Eventually, they succumbed to the inevitable and suffered the drop. And not even Merlin the Magician could save them.
All statistics courtesy of Sofascore - correct as of 04/09/2025
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