Wolves have saved themselves a hefty amount of money by offloading some of the club’s highest earners this summer.
It’s become a theme for Wolves to lose their best players, cashing in on those who draw attention from other clubs.
Already this summer, the quality within Vitor Pereira’s squad has been lowered quite significantly, with Nelson Semedo, Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri among those to leave.
It’s not only the first team regulars who have departed, with Pablo Sarabia and most recently, Goncalo Guedes also bidding farewell.
The exits, bar Ait-Nouri’s, all have had an impact on Wolves for reasons other than on the pitch, as some of the club’s highest earners have been shifted from the wage bill.
Cunha, Semedo, Guedes and Sarabia were some of Wolves’ highest earners last season, but what does shifting them from the expenses really mean for the club?
Fosun during Wolves v Southampton
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Wolves’ fresh wage policy explained
Fosun want to bring more structure to Wolves’ wage bill, which they have done by axing the high earners listed above, with Fabio Silva also anticipated to leave.
To understand what the exits mean for Wolves in the financial department, Molineux Newssought the advice of finance expert Adam Williams.
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“The wage bill at Wolves has been pretty static for several years now. It was £139m in 2020-21 and it was £142m in 2023-24, which is the last financial year for which we’ve got a full data set.
“There’s not been much variance in that time. If you adjust for inflation, they are spending less now than they were back then. So it looks very much like a one-in, one-out policy as far as the wage bill is concerned.”
Williams went on to explain that despite Wolves’ current PSR situation being ‘fine’, the club still have a restriction on their spending in the transfer due to how Fosun run things.
“Wolves are fine under PSR, so that’s not the reason they’re spending less in this department. Instead, I suspect it’s more of a cash issue.
“The owners want the club to wash its own face and not rely on external funding. So, any players they get off the wage bill, you’d assume that most of that saving is going to be reinvested.”
Nelson Semedo giving an interview for Wolves.
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Wolves’ wage pay-outs actually higher than reported
It was known that, despite Fosun wanting to cut the wage bill down, Wolves offered Semedo a bumper contract in a bid to keep the Portugal international at Molineux.
Outlets such as Capology reported that Semedo earned a weekly wage of around £80k at Wolves, but Williams suspects that the actual figure was a lot more.
“I suspect that Semedo, Sarabia, and Guedes were actually on bigger wages than most people realise,” the finance expert explained.
“You can do some pretty simple deduction to figure out that the figures we see on some of the sites quoting the wages of £90,000-a-week are a little low.
“Based on the wage bill in the accounts minus non-football staff, the average weekly wage is around £70,000. The three players that have left are probably all on at least £100,000 – and that’s before bonuses. Silva probably won’t be too far behind.”
It’s no surprise that Wolves sanctioned Guedes’ exit for such a low price, with parting ways with the high earner meaning more than collecting a sizeable transfer fee.
Goncalo Guedes playing for Wolves in pre-season against RC Lens
Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
How much Wolves could save per season by offloading high earners
Fosun have a £142m wage challenge to tend to, something the Wolves owners are actively doing by parting ways with those at the top of the food chain.
The issue with that is that, for the most part, high salaries represent high-calibre players, figures that the club must replace to keep competing in the top-flight.
Fans will want to know what is going to give if the wage bill is decreasing, with Williams giving his opinion on how much Wolves could be saving on wages alone this season.
“I think you’d be saving the best part of £20m per season without any of them on the wage bill.
“With the transfer fees they’ve received this summer, too, I think the remainder of the window is going to be a real litmus test for Fosun’s ambition. If they don’t reinvest now, are they ever going to in any meaningful way?”
As is said almost every transfer window, pressure is on Fosun to show fans that their self-sustaining model can bring success, something supporters have yet to see.