"Bonkers" - Liam Keen analysis after Wolves' Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea
Vitor Pereira needs a big January transfer window to boost Wolves’ hopes of Premier League survival
A successful January transfer window looks like it will be the difference between Wolverhampton Wanderers extending their eight-year stay in the Premier League or facing the ignominy of relegation to the Championship, so who could Vitor Pereira and co. target?
While it’s almost impressive they’ve manager to be cut adrift at the bottom of the table while Nottingham Forest and West Ham United have worse attacking and defensive records respectively, the reality is Wolves need to both get more out of their current squad, and add quality if they’re to survive.
So with that in mind, we fired up the Football Manager 26 Beta, jumped to the end of the January transfer window and it gave us this wild, nine-figure prediction (that ended with Wolves’ relegation):
Wolves launch January spending spree chasing Premier League survival
Mohamed Belloumi - £23m from Hull City - Belloumi has 15 goal contributions from three seasons (including 2025/26) in the Championship and Primeira Liga, so £23m would be a frankly bonkers amount to spend on the Algerian.
George Hirst - £19.5m from Ipswich Town - Hirst is on track to eclipse his previous Championship goal tally this campaign but like with Belloumi, splashing around £20m on a player with such a limited track record feels like folly.
Kasper Boogaard - £8.5m from AZ Alkmaar - Finally a signing that makes sense! Boogaard would be a promising arrival for Wolves - the 19-year-old is already a nuisance out of possession in midfield and has shown at age group level that he can create and score goals too.
Leon Grgic - £10m from Sturm Graz - While not quite as prodigious as Boogaard, Grgic makes more sense as a striker signing than Hirst. After making his Austrian Bundesliga debut last season, the teenager has shown plenty of potential and become a mainstay in the Sturm Graz side this campaign.
Edouard Mendy - £1m from Al-Ahli - Remember when Mendy won the Champions League and was crowned the UEFA and FIFA Goalkeeper of the year? A poorly timed injury hastened his decline at Chelsea and he’s been in the desert ever since, stopping shots from the ghosts of Joao Felix and Josh King (the streets will never forget Josh King, not the Fulham one).
However, he still could have something to give English football while Wolves also signed M’Bala Nzola for a nominal fee from Fiorentina and Luka Vusckovic from Tottenham Hotspur on loan in this prediction.
Defensive exodus leads £50m Wolves outgoings
Rodrigo Gomes - £33m to Wolfsburg - The talent is definitely there with Gomes but he’s clearly not trusted by Pereira and if Wolves are still on track for relegation come January it would be partly as a result of the winger turning into a regular contributor in the final third. So in that context, £33m would be a good return.
Santiago Bueno - £12m to Brentford - Bueno has turned his fortunes at Molineux around this season, putting in strong contributions to a futile cause so many times. Annoyingly for Wolves, it’s just in time for him to convince Brentford to keep him in the top flight long-term.
Toti - £3.6m to Lyon - The defensive departures continues with a bit of a head-scratcher, it would be somewhat strange for the captain to depart for such a low fee especially given his contract runs until 2029.
Marshall Munetsi - £2.2m to Real Zaragoza - Fans hoped Munetsi would improve his finishing this summer after finishing 2024/25 as the player with the third-highest expected goals tally at Molineux despite arriving in January.
That hasn’t transpired though and while he’s far from the biggest problem this season, he’d be 31 by the time Wolves could bounce back to the top flight. Alfie Pond and David Bentley also depart for League 2, heading to Bristol Rovers and MK Dons for £120,000 combined while Saheed Olagunju goes to Notts County on loan.
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