After failing to replace Matheus Cunha last summer, Wolverhampton Wanderers' demise should not have come as a huge shock for those in the Midlands. From a recruitment perspective, relegation has been on the cards for quite some time.
It's only since the turn of the year that they've finally found some form under Rob Edwards, who is at least proving to be an intelligent appointment ahead of the Championship.
That form has not been enough to hide the glaring issues at the club, however, and if there were any doubts about just how much of an impact Cunha had, those have been put to bed in brutal fashion.
Why Cunha's departure has led to relegation
As Brentford continue to prove and as Brighton have proved so often in the past, it's perfectly fine to be a selling club as long as you have the right recruitment strategy in place.
Get it right, and clubs can become some of the best-run businesses in the Premier League. Get it wrong, however, and relegation is almost a certainty.
Wolves got the first bit right in the summer. They received £62.5m to sell Cunha to Manchester United and had the perfect chance to find a replacement and more.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha celebrates after Rodrigo Gomes scores
There was no influx of like-for-like stars, though. Instead, they welcomed unproven stars in the hope that, even without Cunha, they would retain their Premier League status. Almost one year on, to say that hasn't gone to plan would be a major understatement.
Wolves attackers in the PL Goals Assists
Matheus Cunha 24/25 15 6
Tolu Arokodare 25/26 3 1
Fer Lopez 25/26 0 1
Jhon Arias 25/26 23 1
Despite arriving for a combined £58m in 2025, Arokodare, Lopez and Arias have all failed to score more than three goals for Wolves in the Premier League.
What makes matters worse is that Arias has already returned to Brazil and Lopez is already back on loan at Celta Vigo. Wolves are back to square one.
Fer-Lopez-Wolves
They're not the only attackers to struggle, either. Hwang Hee-chan should have been an easy Cunha replacement, but he looks finished under Edwards.
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Wolves' resurgence under Rob Edwards continued with a well-earned point at Brentford.
Wolves star is finished under Edwards
When Hwang opened the 2023/24 Premier League season with ten goals in 20 games, it looked as though Molineux had their latest star ready to go, akin to someone like Cunha.
Injury soon struck, however, and the forward has simply failed to get back to that top form ever since. Now, after scoring just three goals all season, he looks finished in the Midlands.
The South Korean has gone from the main man, who should have had the quality to replace Cunha, to a player who has started just half of Wolves' Premier League games this season.
With Adam Armstrong beginning to find form, the Midlands club should look to cash in on Hwang and perhaps even make back some of the £14m they paid out to secure his signature in 2022.
Hwang by season Goals Assists xG
21/22 5 1 4.42
22/23 4 3 3
23/24 13 3 7.69
24/25 2 1 0.8
25/26 3 3 2.16
The big problem for Wolves is that Hwang remains the closest they've come to a player of Cunha's quality, especially in the 23/24 campaign. It sums up the recruitment that they didn't prepare for the Brazilian's exit or pay attention to Hwang's downfall.
That's the job that Edwards has been forced to handle. With just ten starts in 16 league games under the former Middlesbrough manager, it's clear that Edwards is still attempting to assess where Hwang is these days.
hwang-hee-chan-wolves
It's not a time for passengers, though. Wolves must head down to the Championship without any of their attempted Cunha replacements - be it those who were already lying in wait or summer signings like Arokodare.
Whatever the plan was with Hwang and others, the club must tear it apart and start fresh this summer.
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