16 Jun 2021 12:32:31
According to Jedward on twitter Colombian centre-back Yerson Mosquera will be our first signing.
{Ed002's Note - The club are checking on his qualification for a Work Permit.}
16 Jun 2021 13:27:42
Thanks Ed mate.
16 Jun 2021 21:07:01
Well at £4.5m - £6m for a 20 year old playing in adult football, albeit in Columbia, his price isn't mad and he is a RCB where we have a need so seems quite a rationale move?
16 Jun 2021 21:19:24
So weird cause reading some posters on these pages (not you Rated:) I thought we were selling off every player and bringing no one in?! Whereas with this player we seem to be signing a 20 year old who's been previously tracked by some of the biggest clubs in the world?! It's almost like Fosun aren't trying to completely devalue there own investment?! 🤣.
16 Jun 2021 21:47:30
BB - I sincerely hope no one thinks that Fosun are deliberately damaging the investment that they built so superbly over the first 4 years of ownership. Sadly the damage that was done last year - {and surely you have to accept that quite a lot of damage was done- no European football which there was the year before, dropping down the league after rising steadily, the loss of Nuno etc etc ) was merely the bi product of poor management decisions by Jeff Shi that do not need to be repeated!
16 Jun 2021 22:15:09
Not aimed at you Future (or most of the usual posters for that matter) as most have the sense to understand (like you) that Fosun may have made previous mistakes, but these were precisely that just mistakes! And let's be honest we are talking about one ill judged window which may not have even been there fault! As I've said MANY times people should read the article in the Athletic and realise that moving Docs on was Nunos choice cause he made Semedo his top target! Or that the club/ Fosun wanted to buy Dani Olmo (who is currently looking an amazing prospect) but Nuno overruled it and went with Mendes choice (Podence)! Whoever was at fault they were just mistakes, rather than this (frankly childish) conspiracy theory I've seen creeping on to here of some sort of fire sale to make a quick buck!
I would just say though Future that none of us on here can (definitively) say sacking Nuno was a mistake because we (all) have no real clue what went on there. I think it was a push before ya jump situation, they new he would keep applying for other jobs and when that's the case it's hard to develop a team. Also none of us have even seen what Lage is about yet?! There were Lec fans saying the club would regret sacking Pearson, they don't admit it now but some were definitely saying it at the time! ðŸ‘.
16 Jun 2021 22:28:20
ps Apologies to Jeff Shi the absence of European football in 2020/ 21 was not his fault we failed to qualify in 2019/ 20 when he was not responsible. Sorry!
17 Jun 2021 11:06:53
Future/ Bully, after four years of significant year-on-year progress, Fosun fouled up in the 2020 summer transfer window. In truth we had tempted fate with a small squad in those years but injuries finally caught up with us this past season. This is normal in football, long runs of luck are guaranteed to end. This does not mean that Fosun have lost interest! On the contrary. They have acted swiftly to replace Nuno. Just look at the PL teams from last season who are still without a new manager/ coach! This is just the end of the beginning rather that the beginning of the end for the Wolves/ Fosun project.
By the way I would appreciate a link to the Athletic article you mention.
17 Jun 2021 12:03:48
I don't think Nuno or Fosun failed last transfer window.
The teams that did better during the 2020/ 21 invested in British based players for example Villa and West Ham. However we lost one of the most prolific strikers in Europe before his injury in Raul. Even just after his injury we were picking points up for a few games Chelsea for example comes to mind.
But no club in the league could plan for the C.V. A combination of horror I juries like Rauls and Jonny doing a similar injury twice in a season just shows that's two players missing of that squad that took us to the Europa qf. Not to mention the changes and niggly injuries that other players had. Neto missed a 3rd of a season. That's Jeff's fault aswell? 😂 Come on at least give a balanced perspective of the past 16 months.
Nuno's style had got sussed out. I respect the man and what he did for the club more than any one who has served the club in my lifetime. But his ideas were stale and he failed to get the most of a squad that was still strong enough for better results last season. 2 years ago Nuno would have played the kids and they would have got results. Man city in the league Cup comes to mind etc etc. But Nuno lost his mojo last season.
17 Jun 2021 12:09:11
Deep - good post. V Churchillean!
17 Jun 2021 13:09:45
Madman. I agree with most of what you say with a but. Nuno has my utmost respect first as a man and then as a manager. Lost his mojo? I'm not so sure about that. I think he illustrated to Jeff that he hadn't got the players to change the style of play to a more attack and possession game. We certainly couldn't play a back four with any success but switch back and stay in the division. I think he made a point. I also don't think he signed his current contract without guarantees on budget, would you? It's plain that there was a total breakdown between Nuno and Shi so there was only going to be one winner. Shi made his decision we all have to move on I know but frankly I'd have expected more patience and understanding with last couple of years with little down time. Especially as one of Shi's comments has been the "we are ahead of schedule". A break and a bit of breathing space would probably have done everyone a bit of good but anyway, life! and on we go. Shi has work to do!
17 Jun 2021 13:29:37
Some good points/ posts gents, Ken I'm not sure anyone can rely on ANY guaranteed budgets. Footballs a business and like most businesses you MUST always adapt to your position in the market! ðŸ‘.
17 Jun 2021 13:30:53
Deep- I think you will need an Athletic login buddy, I will try to copy and paste it for you later (if I can:) ðŸ‘.
17 Jun 2021 14:12:25
Madman it is obviously a matter of opinion as to the success or otherwise of the summer 2020 transfer window but despite Nuno stating in the summer of 2020 that the squad was too small and unbalanced, as you acknowledge, we were still not able to cope with 2 injuries, one of which was known! .
Surely it is mad to believe that after 3 years of no injuries we would get the same in the 4th
We bought 6 players 2 RBs - to replace a player we sold, Doherty, 2 LBS to replace the injured Otto, 1 mid, Vitor, who Nuno never played (so clearly he didn't think it was a great transfer) and 1 forward who had to replace Jimenez when he got injured and surely you accept failed to do so - we got virtually no points in a 10+ game run until Jose ( who wasn't great either) arrived!
We bought 6 players but 4 of them were youngsters for the future, 1 was, (perhaps unluckily), permanently injured and only 1 was an experienced fit pro and he was merely a replacement for a player we sold so not really an expansion of the squad. Was this enough or wise?
We had an obvious need, and still do, for a RCB but didn't buy one an obvious need, (still do), for an experienced AM to replace Moutinho and brought in Vitor who Nuno didn't rate or want ( well he didn't play him! ) and an obvious need for an adequate back up to Jimenez - especially after selling Jota - and bought Silva who clearly was a long long way from being ready? It turned out we should have bought a replacement for Rui last summer not this as well but that wasnt obvious so is forgiveable!
You also talk about buying British based players as if that was not something we could do? I think WH and Villa bought succesfully both in Britain and overseas as did Leicester, Everton and Leeds
to name but 3 more as well?
17 Jun 2021 14:27:08
Interesting comments above about Nuno. Did his tactics get sussed out. Did he lose his mojo. Or was he let down by Jeff. Etc etc. It's also interesting that Crystal Palace and Everton both seriously considered hiring him but backed off. Apparently it's the size and cost of Nuno's backroom team that's the problem. Everton have Duncan Ferguson in place as a number two; would he have to leave to accommodate Nuno's team? Could it be that Jeff didn't think that Nuno and his team were value for money any longer? My guess is that Bruno Lage will come in with a much smaller team and work with Wolves own specialists. Leaner and meaner?
17 Jun 2021 16:04:43
Deep. Wolves will have to employ new specialists because we don't have any of our own for the first team squad.
BB I'm well aware that budgets can and have to change. After Raul got injured Nuno said we would get players in the January window. That's when the relationship with Shi broke down. I don't see Jose as Nino's pick but that's what he got. Rumours were that he was going to be sacked after the WBA game. Shi raves over Silva but he's got a long way to go yet.
I know it's all over and done with but it still angers me that they couldn't sort it out!
17 Jun 2021 17:05:24
Ken, we pretty much know that Jeff did the Silva deal. I don't know about the William Jose deal, but Jose actually seemed to be the ideal experienced and proven striker to provide alternative options to Silva. I don't think Nuno would have objected. It surprised everyone that Jose only scored once. As for other players in January, we brought MGW back in and also Patrick Cultrone, so Nuno got three reinforcements in all. Cultone was sent back on loan, why? At least MGW started to come good in the end. We should have done far better with the January reinforcements and this is when I think the Jeff-Nuno relationship started to break down. The shocking home defeat to Burnley would have been the final straw.
17 Jun 2021 17:57:54
Deep. I know I'm just quibbling over spilt milk I just think it's a terrible shame it's come to this! I hope it works out for us all mainly Lage because he's in the hot seat and there to be shot at! In l honesty I didn't think Jose was that bad he held the ball up and linked play quite well would probably have scored when he was brought down for the penalty against Arsenal. Plus I lost count of the number of times he got into space to score then didn't get the all important pass. Anyway that's the last time I'm going to mention it for which you can all breathe a sigh of relief! Unless it winds me up again that is!
I hope if Lage decides to play 2 up too in Raul and Fabio I hope they bring in some cover because we cannot be that vulnerable again!
17 Jun 2021 21:10:23
Here ya go Deep (and anyone else that wants to read Enjoy:) ðŸ‘
On the day itself the news came as a huge shock. Not even an hour after Nuno Espirito Santo had conducted his final press conference of the season — during which he breezily chatted about Sunday’s game with Manchester United and how the players will be spending their summer in preparation for 2021/ 22 — Wolves announced his departure.
In between he had called a meeting with the players at 1pm to deliver the news he was leaving. He was emotional, they were shocked — but not entirely. Behind the scenes this parting of ways has been brewing for several months.
It has been in Wolves’ thought process for some time that a new era might be necessary to refresh and reboot a team who have looked unrecognisable for the majority of the season, diminished by injuries and hampered by fatigue.
Nuno signed a new contract last September and was enthused by trying to instigate a new cycle, moving away from the well-honed counter-attacking style grounded on a solid 3-4-3 foundation based on rigid defensive organisation.
The players were tired going into the new campaign — mental fatigue was said to be at an “incredible†level after a 59-game campaign and a mere 30-day break between seasons for the division’s smallest squad — but Wolves actually started pretty well. They were sixth in November after beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates, four points off the lead.
However that was also the night Raul Jimenez fractured his skull. Without their talisman and with Nuno having ripped up his textbook by introducing a new 4-2-3-1 system, which deeply unlike him they had barely worked on in training, they won one of their next 11 games, the nadir being a 3-2 home defeat to bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion in which Wolves looked rudderless.
Nuno is an almost permanent fixture on the edge of his technical area, prowling the touchline, but after withdrawing his captain Conor Coady and vice-captain Ruben Neves during a shambolic defensive performance, he sat motionless in the dugout watching his team’s identity erode before his very eyes. Something wasn’t right.
He was dealing with the personal trauma of being unable to see his family back home in Portugal and lacked his usual spark and energy. He had been the bombastic driving force behind Wolves’ ascent from mid-table in the Championship to seventh in the Premier League and a Europa League quarter-final, but this season was different, insiders felt.
His all-encompassing energy and drive just didn’t seem to be there and that was reflected in performances. It was considered by many at the club to be a strange move, completely at odds with his principles, that Nuno changed formation halfway through a season, especially when he persisted with it in the absence of Jimenez.
The Athletic understands that Wolves gave serious consideration to sacking Nuno after the West Brom defeat. Ultimately they judged he would be able to steady to ship and avoid a relegation battle.
nuno-wolves
Nuno yesterday announced he will leave Wolves after four years (Photo: JAN KRUGER/ POOL/ AFP via Getty Images)
After that defeat Nuno went back to basics. For the next league game, at Chelsea, 3-4-3 was back and Wolves did nothing but defend all night long, spare a counter attack or two. That theme continued for the next few weeks as Nuno oversaw a string of hard-fought, hard-to-watch but necessary results to keep Wolves up, which they achieved with six games to spare. Given all the circumstances at play, with key players absent and a small squad at his disposal, it was still a notable achievement. Without the squad’s “unique†bond, with its lack of selfishness and a willingness to solve problems without conflict, Nuno said, things could have been worse.
But the rot had set in. Fans began to seriously question him for the first time and the club took note. For all the good work Nuno had done, they felt given the money spent and the talent at his disposal performances should have been better.
A source close to the club says: “There has been a few problems there since October. Players were questioning things about Nuno’s approach. He didn’t lose the dressing room, but they were wondering whether he was as good of a manager as people were making out. There’s a real lack of structure and leadership there, too. Kevin Thelwell (the former sporting director) was very good at bringing departments together, he was very good at managing processes, but things haven’t run as smoothly since.
“It goes as far down as bringing together the medical team and the players, basic things that used to be very clear in the past. â€
Fosun began to look elsewhere and it seems Nuno did too. Jorge Mendes, Nuno’s agent and close friend (and of course a close friend to Wolves), began talking to other clubs to explore the possibility of where could be an option for Nuno’s next move, should he leave Wolves this summer.
Chairman Jeff Shi spoke to Nuno at the beginning of this week before Wolves’ trip to Everton and a parting of ways was agreed, believed to have been instigated by Wolves. While the timing of the announcement, before Sunday’s final game, wasn’t ideal, too many people were beginning to share the news and it was felt it couldn’t be kept secret any longer. As far as statements about a departing manager go, the one Wolves released on Friday lunchtime was about as positive from both sides as it gets and that reflects the amicable nature of Nuno’s exit.
For Wolves, acting now rather than dithering and perhaps seeing things take a turn for the worse next season was at the forefront of their thinking. But Nuno is also believed to have come to the conclusion that it was the right time to leave. He had anticipated that a Champions League level club may have approached him by now, preferably in England, but in the absence of that there was a risk he could damage his reputation should this summer’s rebuilding job (with a small budget in terms of net spend being offered to him) not go to plan.
“It’s just the end of a cycle, †a source close to today’s developments said. “It has been four successful years but he decided that the right time has come to go out and close this beautiful journey. That’s all there is to it. â€
They added: “The decision to leave Wolves was not due to the interest of others clubs. He will now consider the future, but there are no clubs behind this decision. â€
The Athletic understands that Nuno is not in the running to become the next Tottenham Hotspur manager.
The below graphic charts a stark decline in Wolves’ offensive and defensive output. Yes it has been a beautiful journey, but the current season has been a real struggle.
A source close to the dressing room says: “It was a bit of a surprise, the timing of it, finding out today, but (overall) it wasn’t a massive surprise. A few of the players had been suggesting it was on the cards for a few weeks and he was considering whether he would or wouldn’t go.
“It’s going to be a weird couple of days and Sunday it going to be quite an emotional day for him. You’ll see that at the end of the game – emotions will overflow. â€
Recruitment had also been an issue. Nuno had the final say on new signings and tended to side with Mendes options rather than those put forward by the in-house recruitment team, often against their advice. For example, Spanish international Dani Olmo was available in January 2020 but Nuno sided with Mendes client Daniel Podence from Olympiakos instead, with Olmo going to RB Leipzig. When sourcing Matt Doherty’s replacement last summer, Nelson Semedo was very much Nuno’s number one choice. In fact he was the player Nuno craved more than anyone during that transfer window. At this moment in time, with Semedo having struggled to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League, it’s not been a successful move.
While Nuno has been incredibly popular with his playing staff, his departure won’t be a devastating blow to some at the club who have grown weary of his moody and occasionally terse demeanour. He could be snappy and abrupt. He’s very much been a head coach fully focused on the first-team but, other than getting involved in the final stage of transfers, hasn’t managed other aspects of the club. He didn’t attend a single under-23 match during his four-year tenure, for example.
His overall record, though, was nothing short of remarkable. To contrast the carnage of 2016-17, when Wolves flirted with relegation from the Championship as Walter Zenga, Paul Lambert and the best part of 17 players came and went, with 2017-18 when Nuno assembled a Premier League-ready team, playing football that had rarely, if ever, been witnessed at that level before, shows the stunning job he did. To then register consecutive seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League, beating every top six club bar Liverpool along the way, was simply dreamland for Wolves supporters, many of whom will tell you he’s been their best manager since Stan Cullis.
He leaves with his demigod status intact for many, with his face and name still plastered graffiti-style around the city’s streets, having forged a legacy on and off the field for a football club and a city that doubted it would ever hit those heights again. In January he gave £250,000 of his own money to help combat food poverty in Wolverhampton. His legacy will stand the test of time.
Wolves will also miss his backroom team, whom it’s believed wanted to stay at the club. Fitness specialist Antonio Dias has introduced world-leading rehabilitation and injury-prevention techniques to make Wolves the envy of the Premier League in terms of their injury record, while “mind coach†Julio Figueroa was a key ally of the players for his approaches to psychology and mental wellbeing.
So what next? It’s believed that Nuno has no other job lined up at this stage and was happy to go into the summer without one, allowing him time to return home and finally spend time with his family. Wolves plan to move quickly to hire his replacement and the chances are he’ll be Portuguese. They admire Porto boss Sergio Conceicao but he’s out of their reach. Paulo Fonseca, about to leave Roma to be replaced by Jose Mourinho, could well be an option, while ex-Benfica manager Bruno Lage has been strongly linked for some time.
“Moving forward, I don’t know what the club are going to do, †a source close to the dressing room says. “I don’t think they’ll hang about in terms of the application process.
“I think Jorge will already have a list made up for them. They’ll just go similar, another Portuguese manager will come in, work with the squad we’ve got and see what he can do. Otherwise there could be complete upheaval in terms of staff, players, philosophies and what have you. â€
Wolves are now at a crossroads. Do they hire an attack-minded, possession-based head coach to manage a squad designed to do something different? How attractive is the job if players need to be sold this summer to generate funds? Is Mendes still fully on board with the project? Or do Wolves, with technical director Scott Sellars and the recently-hired “strategic player marketing manager†Matt Jackson now two key figures behind the scenes, move away from the Mendes carousel?
There has certainly been a change in tack from the ownership in terms of growing the club and the brand being a huge priority, while at the same time spending on the team (in terms of net spend) and the stadium has been rowed back, with a Molineux redevelopment on the back burner for now.
Wolves have struggled this season, with some players questioning Nuno’s approach
A source close to the club adds: “There’s a pragmatism that breaking into the top six on a regular basis is going to be incredibly difficult and requires huge investment. That ambition is still there, but it’s more of a long-term view now and the focus has switched to growing the club as much as the team, to set the foundations to create that long-term success. Leicester are where Wolves want to be but their owners have been there 11 years, they’ve won the league and had Champions League football which took them to another level. It won’t be easy.
“There’s a feeling that this has still been a good season given all the problems they’ve suffered, but Nuno leaving does feel like the natural end of a cycle, as it might for a few of the players who’ve been there with him for four years.
“This can be a real opportunity for the club to have a head coach who’s going to play how the fans want and how the owners want. There’ll be lots of movement this summer and yes there’s not a massive budget but you’ll find that’s the case for most Premier League clubs. But any new manager coming in will want to spend. â€
It’s been an unforgettable four years. Nuno, with his close relationship to Mendes and his alignment with Fosun on blooding youth and planning meticulously for long-term growth, was a perfect fit.
Without each other can Wolves — and Nuno — hit those same heights again?