Wolverhampton Wanderers have an added incentive ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Old Gold travel to the capital for their final away match of the season, up against the newly-crowned FA Cup champions. Palace will be eager to give their fans another victory to cheer following their 1-0 triumph over Manchester City at Wembley, but Wolves will be keen to end the party.
Although Wanderers were safe from relegation weeks ago and don’t have a great deal to play for in a sporting sense, there’s still plenty at stake. Wolves winning at Selhurst Park would be enough for a 14th-placed finish or higher and in turn will secure a bigger share of the Premier League’s prize money.
If Wanderers lose to Palace, there’s every chance at least one of West Ham United, Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur overtake them on the final day. That may not sound too catastrophic - and it’s not, in truth - but Wolves would be missing out on a decent transfer budget boost.
The team that finishes in 14th is expected to pocket £19.7 million in prize money, compared to the £11.3 million pot for the 17th-placed finishers. In between those positions, the team in 15th will relieve £16.9 million and the side in 16th will earn £14 million. Every position gained is essentially worth an extra £2.8 or £2.9 million.
It’s still not impossible for Wolves to finish 13th ahead of Everton, although that would take two wins out of two. The Toffees have a tricky trip to Newcastle United on the final day, so Wolves have a fairly good chance if they do their part. Finishing 13th instead of 14th would earn £22.5 million, a nice increase.
Every penny will help Wolves this summer
The odd extra few million here and there wouldn’t be game-changing for Wolves at this level, but it would be a nice and welcome boost. The imminent sale of Matheus Cunha to Manchester United for £62.5 million is the real banker for the transfer budget, but finishing strongly in the Premier League to earn even more cash would be handy.
It’s a big summer ahead for Wanderers as they look to build on Vitor Pereira’s extraordinary start. The Portuguese, brought in as Gary O’Neil’s successor in December, is yet to have a summer transfer window to make a proper mark on his squad.
The January signings of Emmanuel Agbadou and Marshall Munetsi have made a difference, while Nasser Djiga could be good in the future, but the proper business is likely to take place in the next few months. Having a decent budget to work with will help Pereira plug the gaps he believes need to be filled – and properly.
It awaits to be seen what positions Pereira will be looking to strengthen but it’s likely a Cunha replacement will be high up on the list. It then depends who else might leave, as the likes of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes are in demand, whereas captain Nelson Semedo is yet to renew his contract.
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