Gary O’Neil conducted a masterclass in the early days of his time at Wolves, with one transfer move now proving to be a remarkable feat.
The 2023/24 season could have been a lot better Wolves but equally, it could have been a lot worse.
When Gary O’Neil took charge just days before the Premier League got underway, the squad was in a mess, as Julen Lopetegui departed due to concerns over the lack of depth in the midst of a financial crisis.
The initial hope was that the former Bournemouth manager could keep Wolves in the Premier League, with the Englishman exceeding such expectations as he delivered a season with a five-point improvement on Lopetegui’s 2022/23 points tally.
There is still a lot of work to be done, particularly in the transfer window to replenish the squad currently at Molineux.
While there are big talents out there for Wolves to acquire, very few market moves could usurp one of O’Neil’s first actions at the club, as time has only proven just how successful the sale of Matheus Nunes was.
Gary O’Neil struck gold with the sale of Matheus Nunes to Manchester City
On deadline day of the 2023 window, Manchester City purchased Nunes from Wolves after speculation had amounted to the Portugal international refusing to train.
The 25-year-old was desperate to make the move to the treble winners, seeing his actions prior to his Molineux exit branded a ‘disgrace’ by pundit Chris Sutton, who joined many in not being amused by Nunes’ attitude to push for the transfer.
O’Neil held out for a fee of £53m to be handed to Wolves, as the first bid of £47m was batted away, seeing City eventually cough up what the Old Gold considered to be a more accurate asking price.
The £53m sale saw Nunes become Wolves’ record departure, eclipsing the prices received for both Ruben Neves and Morgan Gibbs-White.
While a lot of credit must go to Bruno Lage’s offloading of Gibbs-White for a staggering £42.5m, O’Neil struck gold by selling Nunes, with the latest news showing how right the Midlands club were to cash in when they did.
Matheus Nunes future at Manchester City now uncertain after Wolves exit
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, which Nunes will now know all too well as his 2023/24 season was limited to just 14 starts in all competitions, averaging just 44 minutes per game in the Premier League.
Nunes failed to score in his debut campaign for City and now, his time could already be up as HITC reported that the champions may ‘be willing to cut their losses’ with the midfielder, who has interest from Saudi Arabia.
While the Portuguese talent showed his quality during the 2022/23 campaign at Wolves, he was by no means irreplaceable, scoring just once in his Premier League career over two seasons.
Thankfully, O’Neil and Wolves had the last laugh by acquiring £53m for his sale, with Nunes failing to make an impression at City as he would’ve hoped, leaving behind what could have been, had he remained at Molineux.