After Tottenham Hotspur required a late Jan Vertonghen goal to see off Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jose Mourinho revealed: “My feeling is they are fighting for more than they said. They are not just there for the top six. They can do more.” The Portuguese manager is right about his fellow countryman’s side, and they are not far off the top four by any stretch of the imagination.
For starters, Wolves’ growth since the Fosun International Group bought a majority share in the club has been exponential. Two and a half years ago, when they were purchased for £45m, Wolves had just finished 14th in the Championship. Now they are into the Europa League round of 32 and only two points off the fifth spot in the Premier League, and they can afford to pay £34m for Raul Jimenez.
The West Midlands side are on the cusp of entering a golden era for their club, and they have just two priorities to achieve an improbable Champions League dream. The first of which is increasing their squad depth, while they have been steadily achieving this goal since promotion to the top flight, further reinforcements are required to fight on multiple fronts. There is no need for any significant changes, and Nuno Espirito Santo prefers to keep his squad small, but a few extra bodies in key areas would go a long way. Currently, if either Ruben Neves or Joao Moutinho were to sustain a long-term injury, it could disrupt their season to a devastating degree.
Equally, a little more pace could go a long way, as Santo prefers wing-backs when there isn’t always room for wide players. But were he to introduce another figure such as Jonny Otto or Adama Traore, who is capable of playing in defence or further forward, they would not be so reliant on those two for speed.
But the most important aspect should be keeping hold of Espirito Santo. Recent speculation linking the manager with Arsenal should have concerned the Wolves hierarchy; his departure would represent a challenging vacancy to fill. Few other managers know Europe and the Premier League quite like Santo now does, and his players have been carefully recruited to fit his specific tactical plans.
If the Fosun International Group can make a small number of specific recruitments as they have proven capable of doing in the past, along with holding on to the manager at the helm, then they will continue to challenge for the Champions League spots in the future. Though with other clubs experiencing turbulence, this could be their best chance to pull off a coup.
