Wolves are preparing to orchestrate a better summer in the transfer window than the one that Gary O’Neil walked into last year, with the future of Joao Gomes giving the manager the chance to change one familiar method at Molineux.
The 2023 summer transfer window was a difficult time for Wolves, who lost key players and were unable to rebuild their squad due to financial restrictions.
The Old Gold lost players such as Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in order to balance the books, seeing Gary O’Neil take over a depleted squad from Julen Lopetegui at short notice.
It looks as though Wolves will have the room to manoeuvre a better presence in the 2024 summer transfer window, with a host of areas needing to be addressed in the current squad.
Wolves could be braced for a busy transfer window
The most prominent part of O’Neil’s side that is expected to be bolstered in the transfer is the need for a new striker.
It’s common knowledge that the manager hopes to equip his team with a refreshed outlet to lead the line, particularly as he failed to sign a forward in the January window.
As well as potential incomings, there is a lot of speculation regarding who could exit Molineux this summer, with Pedro Neto undoubtedly the Wolves player attracting the most attention.
Aside from the Portuguese gem, 23-year-old Joao Gomes is said to be gathering ‘serious attention’ for his displays throughout the campaign however, O’Neil mustn’t jump at letting the Brazilian depart.
Wolves don’t need to make a familiar mistake with Joao Gomes
Not only will Wolves not want to lose Gomes, but the club also aren’t in a position where they need to hastily offload talent to generate profit.
The Old Gold uncovered treasure by signing the midfielder for just £15m from Flamengo in January 2023, as his performances continue to show just how well-equipped he is to play in the Premier League.
In the past, Wolves have deemed it necessary to offload talent for profit, as seen recently through the £53m sale of Nunes after one season at Molineux and the £42.5m sale of Morgan Gibbs-White.
Both players hadn’t spent a great amount of time at senior level at Wolves before exiting, with the priority in both instances being to balance the books and generate profit.
It was effective for the Old Gold on the business front, but not so much on the footballing side of things, giving O’Neil an incentive to not follow suit with Gomes’ future.
In the year and a half that the Brazil international has been in England, his improvement has been staggering, with him thriving in the manager’s current system, seeing him branded as “absurd” by teammate Matheus Cunha.
Signed for only £15m, the youngster’s approximate market value has almost doubled, with CIES Football Observatory listing him as a player worth €30m (£27m) however, given the market, it would be expected that he’s worth considerably more.
Taking into consideration the business in the Premier League surrounding midfielders recently, holding only Gomes for at least another season could rocket his value even more and benefit Wolves, who would struggle to replace him.
West Ham made a £105m profit by selling Declan Rice, who grew over the years as an established Premier League player, with Brighton making a similar profit through their sale of Moises Caicedo.
Bearing in mind that Wolves are no longer in a position where they have to offload talent, allowing Gomes to grow for another season under O’Neil could be significantly influential to both the player’s and the club’s future.