Vitor Pereira is already thinking about next season at Wolves with a clear plan for the summer transfer window.
Though ten games of the Premier League season remain, Wolves will be feeling mildly confident regarding their survival chances.
The Old Gold’s 1-1 draw with Everton earned Pereira’s squad a vital point to move six points clear of the bottom three, with promoted trio Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town struggling.
There are 30 points still to be won before the season can be closed but, Pereira has already started thinking about the 2025/26 campaign to some degree.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira eager to correct Gary O’Neil’s transfer mistake
Pereira looks at home at Wolves, arriving at Molineux to save the squad from potential relegation after Gary O’Neil’s woeful start.
The Englishman’s first season in the West Midlands was a triumph against the odds, finishing 14th place with a squad low on depth.
After the summer transfer window, O’Neil was not able to kick on in his second campaign, leading to his dismissal in December.
Fortunately, Pereira seems to have been the correct hire and now, the Wolves manager wants to put O’Neil’s wrongs to right in more than just on the pitch.
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Speaking to the media, the boss revealed that he’s eager to sign a player with ‘individual skill’, insisting that it’s an area in which his squad is lacking.
“I think it’s about individual skills, maybe next season we need to think about players one against one,” Pereira said, via Express and Star.
“Players that can create something in one against one. I think we have one or two with this profile.”
O’Neil made a significant error in the summer by not replacing Pedro Neto, who was one of Wolves’ most dangerous technicians on the flank last term.
Pereira is now eager to find a solution to the lack of individual spark in attack, hinting at where the former Wolves manager went wrong in previous windows.
Wolves failed to replace Pedro Neto
Offloading key players and failing to sufficiently replace them is sadly a narrative that Wolves know all too well.
Neto joined Chelsea and with him left the magic he offered to Wolves’ attack, something O’Neil was unable to replace despite welcoming Carlos Forbs on loan.
Statistic Average Rank at Wolves
Assists 9 1st
Shots 1.8 2nd
Key passes 1.9 1st
Dribbles 1.9 2nd
Crosses 1.7 1st
Pedro Neto at Wolves Premier League 2023/24 – WhoScored
Forbs isn’t getting game time at Wolves, playing only 259 minutes in all competitions this season, emphasising how much is missing going forward in Neto’s absence.
Fortunately, it’s an issue that Pereira isn’t unaware of, with the manager already eager to replenish the threat his attack can offer in the summer transfer window.