A summer clear-out is anticipated at Wolves, and unfortunately, some players will either be sold by Vitor Pereira or sent back from their loans.
In Tuesday night’s defeat to Crystal Palace, Pereira bemoaned Wolves’ lack of depth while sending a subtle transfer message to Fosun about investing in the squad.
It is well known that Fosun operate with a self-sustaining model, often showing a reluctance to invest the capital received from player sales into new signings.
Wolves will pocket £62.5 million in instalments for Matheus Cunha this summer as he closes in on a move to Manchester United.
Cunha has been an incredible player for the club over the years, seeing his stock and value skyrocket, while others have watched theirs crumble.
Photo by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC/Wolves via Getty Images
Vitor Pereira explains why Carlos Forbs hasn’t played for Wolves
Following Pedro Neto’s departure to Chelsea, Wolves needed to replace the Portuguese superstar with quality in wide areas, failing to do so with the addition of Carlos Forbs from Ajax.
Wolves loaned Forbs with an £11.7m option to buy from the Dutch giants on transfer deadline day, but he’s played just 29 minutes since Pereira joined the club and has only totalled 10 appearances in the Premier League.
Ajax wanted Forbs back in January, and even though the 21-year-old has hardly featured, that option was shut down by the Wanderers.
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It’s become clear that the Portugal under-21 star doesn’t fit into the manager’s system, and ahead of the home clash against Brentford, Pereira explained why to the E&S.
“He must go back to Ajax and after we’ll see,” he said. “As I explained before, Carlos is a winger but to play in 4-3-3.
“He’s a winger, one against one. To do what I want in this system is difficult for him when we are defending. He doesn’t have the skill to go and come back to defend, it’s difficult.
“It’s not about his quality because he has quality, he’s strong one against one, he’s very fast. But in my system he cannot play inside in between the lines because he doesn’t have these skills. And to play outside is a different profile of player.”
Forbs was a panic buy
Wolves knew even before the last summer transfer window that Neto was on his way out, and although they quickly signed Rodrigo Gomes, they also needed someone who was the finished article.
The Old Gold didn’t have a replacement for the 25-year-old lined up and that forced them into signing Forbs, who was clearly a panic buy.
Carlos Forbs stats for Wolves
17 appearances
0 goals
1 assists
617 minutes played
When looking back, the move somewhat made sense as Wolves started the campaign in a 4-3-3 formation under O’Neil, a system that Forbs would fit into.
But, once he returned to a three-man defence and then Pereira came through the door with a similar system, there was no chance of him playing regular football.