Wolves will be a club to watch in the summer transfer window as Gary O’Neil looks to rebuild his squad, however, the manager’s pursuit of one target may have already taken a big blow.
After reaching the finish line in 14th, Gary O’Neil will be hopeful of being given the room to manoeuvre a strong summer in the transfer window at Wolves.
The boss weathered the storm of having a squad low on numbers throughout the 2023/24 campaign but still managed to secure a five-point improvement on last season’s points tally.
While there were some high points in O’Neil’s first year in charge, the overriding low was the manager’s lack of depth, which he will be eager to resolve in the upcoming window.
Several targets have already been linked as being potential players of interest to those at Molineux, one of which being Che Adams, whose future could now have taken a turn.
Wolves pursuit of Che Adams could have taken a blow after Southampton’s promotion
On Sunday, Southampton bounced back to the Premier League by beating Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley in the Championship Play-Off Final.
The Saints’ promotion could derail Wolves’ hopes of bringing Adams in as a free agent, with the striker’s current contract at the club set to expire at the end of June.
With Southampton returning to the top flight, there may be both an effort to retain Adams, who netted 16 goals in the Championship, and the desire for the player to remain at the club.
Speaking after winning the Play-Off final, Saints manager Russell Martin admitted that the club will ‘try’ and keep the players who are out of contract, adding that they will do their ‘very best’ to retain them, via Daily Echo.
That being said, Martin also noted that there ‘will be offers’ for the three players, with Wolves expected to attempt to lure Adams to Molineux based on recent reports.
Gary O’Neil must push to secure Che Adams this summer
While Adams may not be the high-calibre striker that Wolves fans may have desired, the Scotsman is an experienced goalscorer in both the Premier League and the Championship.
Once lauded for his ‘absolutely unreal’ performance when playing as a lone striker by journalist Ross McCafferty, the 27-year-old certainly has a lot that he could offer to Wolves’ current squad.
Depth is the most important element, with a strong goalscoring presence being another, as Adams sported a conversion rate of 20% in the second tier over 2023/24.
O’Neil has seemingly admired the striker for some time, with Wolves linked to his services last summer and in January, presenting the perfect opportunity to now grasp the player, if his future does not remain at St Mary’s.