Yet another pundit has pegged Wolves for relegation. This time it’s former Sunderland striker Darren Bent.
As much as people like to claim pre-season results don’t matter, there seem to be an awful lot of media personalities sealing Wolves’ fate before a ball is kicked in the Premier League.
Bent agrees with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, while Ally McCoist came to the same Wolves verdict this week.
Admittedly, the incomings (or lack thereof) in the transfer window are playing a part in the adoption of this position.
Darren Bent thinks absence of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri will see Wolves relegated
Wolves’ two best players from last season, Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, have both swapped Wolverhampton for Manchester this summer, with the former joining Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford and the latter signing for Pep Guardiola at Man City.
Losing a player of this calibre makes things tough, but losing two is borderline damning if they are not adequately replaced. And Bent thinks not enough has been done to compensate for their departures.
Matheus Cunha (L) and Rayan Ait-Nouri of Wolverhampton Wanderers celebrate following victory in the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton FC at Molineux
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Featuring in the Premier League’s official pundit predictions, he picks Leeds and Burnley to go down, and Wolves is his third team set for the drop, as he explains: “The gap between the Championship and Premier League is just too big and Wolves have lost two of their best players in Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha and haven’t replaced them.”
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A fair point made, but perhaps not the only reason for this pick.
Most fans will agree that the trend of promoted sides all going back down is not good for the Premier League. In the last few seasons, there has been a notable gap in quality between the new clubs in the league and the mid-to-low table sides.
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Of course, for that trend to end, an established Premier League club has to go down. Out of the 17 from last season, Wolves and Brentford look the weakest, and so it makes sense that they are being picked.
It’s also worth mentioning that Bent played for Sunderland for two seasons, scoring 32 goals and developing a bond with the club that could explain his choice to keep them in the top flight.
Maybe that’s wishful thinking, though, and Wolves really are in trouble this season. We’ll soon find out.