Summer 2021 transfer window

[big mean bunny]

We have gone from being a team people thought had a slim chance of barging our way into the top 6, to being hopeful we can get 12th place in a matter of a year, something feels to have gone at least awry, if not off the tracks.

 

[Throbber3]

Perhaps Nuno walked because he knew this was the strategy. All very frustrating, you can't even say the window is still open, any business should've pretty much of concluded by now

That’s a decent theory. Never be proven but if two and two are four then it’s a fair leap.
Fosun seem to be looking at us like any other asset and probably feel that it’s a longer project. Looking at transfer fees to turn that squad into top 6 you need 6 players all at 40 m plus. And even then it isn’t guaranteed. That’s a quarter of a billion that their investors would need a return on. Have their ambitions changed? Probably not but I think their naivety in the transfer market has cost them dear. They thought that two over performing seasons were the norm with Nuno and his system. That was found badly wanting from the euro quarter final onwards. Nuno probably said he could improve it for 100m and Fosun choked and said nope you’re self sufficient. At which point they parted ways. Then Bruno came in and said he could do the same for less . Rui Mir Cutrone and Otasowie gone . Now Rui was no way near his beat at all last season and Sa could well be better suited to how we play so I don’t see that as a huge step down. But Lage seems convinced he is going to get some players in and convinced he will at least match last seasons performance for a reduced budget. That will meet Fosuns expectations. Break even and stay up seems to be the brief and we as fans need to see that reality. We are not PSG or Man City. Of course this could just be all bollocks! Time we tell .

 

[Dire Wolf]

You do start to wonder if Fosun have realised that their stated aim of breaking into the top 6/4 is a pipe dream and decided to cut their losses to match lower expectations. They certainly seem to have lost their appetite for serious investment in the team.

 

[Carsy]

still unproven though and you must have a balanced team

Atleast if we are signing players like him then there is a clear plan and vision

 

[Sniffer]

You do start to wonder if Fosun have realised that their stated aim of breaking into the top 6/4 is a pipe dream and decided to cut their losses to match lower expectations. They certainly seem to have lost their appetite for serious investment in the team.

You may well be right about lowering expectations but whilst we are a Premier League club they won’t be making a loss on their investment.

 

[Tony Towner]

You do start to wonder if Fosun have realised that their stated aim of breaking into the top 6/4 is a pipe dream and decided to cut their losses to match lower expectations. They certainly seem to have lost their appetite for serious investment in the team.

Start to wonder?
What I'm starting to wonder is not whether Fosun asked Mendes who have you got, they asked who have you got that'll just say yes?

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Randy Lerner hit the glass ceiling with Villa and realised that to break through it huge additional investment was required and drew up the draw bridge. The only way a club can feasibly get into the top six let alone top four is by external funding. That will only come from extremely rich owners who see a return being success in the pitch not in the share price. It is clear Fosun aren’t going down that route and without the benefit of being a largely unknown quantity line in our first two PL seasons we are now just like a number of other clubs.

Wolves fans don’t expect the likes of Burnley, Brighton, Palace, Southampton and Newcastle to suddenly make the top eight and there’s no reason to believe we will again. Sad to say but I think we’ve peaked and won’t get back there whilst Fosun own us and want us to break even. I can live with a few seasons of mid-table finishes but history shows that things can go sour very quickly as clubs like Stoke and Bournemouth have discovered. If Fosun want to make money they would probably be better off trying to find a buyer before we have a bad season and the club’s value plummets. Owning a mid to lower placed team operating on a break even basis doesn’t strike me as a great way to make money.

 

[Freddeno]

Atleast if we are signing players like him then there is a clear plan and vision

..and what would be that vision, a vision for the future long term..I know Jeff has said that before soo..

 

[Freddeno]

Start to wonder?
What I'm starting to wonder is not whether Fosun asked Mendes who have you got, they asked who have you got that'll just say yes?

Im sure we can sign a player without Mendes(at least i hope that)

 

[Tony Towner]

Im sure we can sign a player without Mendes(at least i hope that)

I was referring to the manager. I'm not there yet, the next 11 days will tell whether I will be.

 

[Freddeno]

I was referring to the manager. I'm not there yet, the next 11 days will tell whether I will be.

ok

 

[Carsy]

..and what would be that vision, a vision for the future long term..I know Jeff has said that before soo..

Signing young players with a high ceiling. If you added to or 3 per window and kept them all together for 3 years say could build a pretty strong side.
That’s what I was guessing the plan was, rightly or wrongly

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Fucks sake. Nuno didn’t walk. He was fired.

 

[The Saturday Boy]

Signing young players with a high ceiling. If you added to or 3 per window and kept them all together for 3 years say could build a pretty strong side.
That’s what I was guessing the plan was, rightly or wrongly

This also underpins a particular way of meeting the various financial regulations all clubs are subjected to - from UEFA and the Premier League. The premise of these regulations is that clubs operate within their means. Spending is financed by income. Player sales are one of the ways in which income can be generated and can be the most lucrative. Liverpool sold Coutinho for a lot of money and within a few years were winning major trophies. Spurs sold Bale and it didn’t quite have the same impact.

Fosun’s original intention was to build a new out of town stadium/casino/hotel/conference centre and they could have paid for that without breaching any financial regulation while increasing a revenue stream significantly. That they have decided against that is likely a reason their timeline/ambition has changed.

In the absence of one increasing revenue stream to help live within our means - a larger stadium - player trading comes to the fore…and Mendes. It doesnt matter whether Silva is worth £35 million, it was a necessary price to provide revenue to another club. Mir isn’t worth £17 million. Liverpool are paying for Jota on HP but we benefit from the full transfer fee immediately. How much did we pay for Jordan, definitely more than his worth. Transfer fees are all made up by others to circumnavigate financial rules if you know the right people.

We buy to sell and sell to buy. The club retains an element of control in that every player has got their price and they if a player or club wants a move to happen that price will be determined.

Its just a money merry-go-round. Beyond that it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny if you try to use transfer fees to evaluate a player’s worth.

Buy three young players, sell one a year for a profit. Revenue.

 

[big mean bunny]

There strategy to crack the big 6 wasnt going to be Man City level expectations, for me the blue print needed to be a Leicester, Monaco, Brentford, Athletico system that is unique or different to what is happening. It doesn't need 40m transfers constantly, it needs the next evolution of buying a Neves type.

The issue is we seemed to be heading towards what Monaco were doing (becoming a finishing school for young talent) before maybe recognising that isn't as easy in the Prem, as have made vyirtually no signings. So what next?

 

[Tony Towner]

At what point does league position become important within the economics? Irrespective of business model every side whose ambition is mid table and whose budget is set accordingly eventually goes down. The Charltons, Wigans, Albions and Stokes may do a decade or so, but like Palace and Southampton will, eventually you go down. That will happen to Wolves at some point if that's the behaviour

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Roughly half of surveyed wolves fans would like to see a change in ownership. I'm a bit surprised by that

https://twitter.com/x/status/1427223618518355973

This feels more realistic now.

 

[big mean bunny]

I can never remember where it was, but either The Numbers game or Soccernomics had a chapter about a clear colleration between wage spend and league position. Much more defined than transfer spend.

At what point does league position become important within the economics? Irrespective of business model every side whose ambition is mid table and whose budget is set accordingly eventually goes down. The Charltons, Wigans, Albions and Stokes may do a decade or so, but like Palace and Southampton will, eventually you go down. That will happen to Wolves at some point if that's the behaviour

 

[Tony Towner]

This feels more realistic now.

Not really, questioning strategy is not the same as wanting out.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Not really, questioning strategy is not the same as wanting out.

Pretty linear progression if you don't agree with the strategy though, no?