The Incoming Transfers Everywhere Thread: Summer 2023

[Jinky]

I'm actually quite excited (shock horror!) by the prospect of signing players in the £8-15m bracket. Let's face it, our record with the high profile/expensive players has been pretty shocking, and it's also not a sensible way for us to work, when you consider FFP boundaries (yes, I know). At least if we sign someone in that bracket and they don't quite work out, it won't cripple us financially. We're also more likely to have a more solid hit-rate or return on the pitch if they're already proven in the league.

Signings like Dawson & Lemina may not be as exciting or headline worthy as others, but those are exactly the kind of players we need to be more consistent on the field and to push ourselves up the table. Especially when they're sprinkled in with exciting up and coming signings like Joao Gomes.

I appreciate Hobbs has said we've got to shift players first, but even though the likes of Jonny, Podence, Kilman etc aren't liked much by our own fans, we really should be able to find buyers for them.

I'm quietly optimistic about the upcoming window, but there's still plenty of time for that to change!

 

[Jinky]

Also, any good?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1669645353207955459

 

[Tredman]

Over £15m, next.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

You would really struggle with a team with genuinely bad owners.

FWIW I don't think Fosun are awful people who are out to bleed the club dry like some other owners out there, I just don't think they understand how to run a football club. I am also aware that they have overseen the most successful period we've had in my lifetime so I should maybe cut them some slack. The way they go on about having to comply with FFP and then simulataneously waste huge sums of money frustrates me immensely though.

I will try and dial down the anti-Fosun comments. I don't want to go all Johnny!

Anyway, feel free to take the piss out of me when Lop has us flying next season and I predictably get carried away by it all

 

[Stan Hullis]

They only "waste" huge sums of money in terms of Wolverhampton Wanderers though.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people making a lot of money out of the "waste" of our deals - including people connected to Fosun

 

[Kenny]

FWIW I don't think Fosun are awful people who are out to bleed the club dry like some other owners out there, I just don't think they understand how to run a football club. I am also aware that they have overseen the most successful period we've had in my lifetime so I should maybe cut them some slack. The way they go on about having to comply with FFP and then simulataneously waste huge sums of money frustrates me immensely though.

I will try and dial down the anti-Fosun comments. I don't want to go all Johnny!

Anyway, feel free to take the piss out of me when Lop has us flying next season and I predictably get carried away by it all

For the FFP stuff and the spending I would direct that Jeff.

Fosun have zero clue how to run a lot of the businesses they buy and they know it. They simply get people to to run them.. In our case it was Jeff alongside an existing team at Wolves and Jorge. Was working ok but Jeff let the team below him go (or forced them out) and had a go at being the king of football....failed and allowed Jorge to extend his power at the club (Bruno Lage, Guedes etc).

Jeff obviously has a job from Fosun and that is to increase the value of the club by improving the brand side (the bit we really don';t care about) and he nearly fucked that up. Whether luck or good judgement he got us Lopetegui and ripped up the rules we were using. Still paying the price for what happened from Covid to the October last year though

For me, I want Fosun to take Jeff off somewhere else and put someone with fresh ideas in at the top

 

[Johnny75]

Also, any good?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1669645353207955459

Decent record and not just in Italy.

Good age and a decent price.

Probably nonsense.

 

[Del Woppio]

Let's never forget this:

From Jeff Shi to Mendes and/or his business partner

“If Fosun does any deal with a football club it’s only for the future benefit of our alliance,”

"very keen to learn from Jorge about how to run a club very well and promote it to Premier League. And you always know the reason for the investment of Wolves is mainly because of our bet and trust on Jorge"

"Jorge can take Wolves as the most reliable partner and agency revenue source for long long time”

It doesn't matter what Hobbs says or wants. As long as Fosun are our owners, all they want is for us to retain PL status and pump TV money into/through Jorge Mendes

How a soccer agent and Chinese billionaire aimed to trade in players

The Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes joined forces with investors from Shanghai and planned to cash in on buying and selling athletes, documents show.

www.reuters.com

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I don't care if Mendes is involved or not, I just don't want us doing stupid favours for him that have a massive material impact on how we perform, eg Lage and Guedes.

He must know that we cannot do that and critically the current manager won't accept any old shite players being handed to him.

 

[Alan]

Also, any good?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1669645353207955459

Yes.

When we signed Sarabia I got way too excited because I thought we’d signed Sanabria.

As Johnny says, tho, it’s a suspiciously positive link.

 

[AndyWolves]

It really depends if Fosun bought a stake in Gestifute to support wolves, or bought wolves to support their stake in Gestifute. Their actions in the last few seasons would suggest the latter.

I do think the landscape has changed now though, with the narrative coming out that we're no longer working with Jorge - whether that's true or not is another matter.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It really depends if Fosun bought a stake in Gestifute to support wolves, or bought wolves to support their stake in Gestifute. Their actions in the last few seasons would suggest the latter.

I do think the landscape has changed now though, with the narrative coming out that we're no longer working with Jorge - whether that's true or not is another matter.

Option B makes no sense, they only hold a tiny minority stake in Gestifute and in any case a football club is on a completely different scale in terms of profile and finance.

 

[Alan]

Let's never forget this:

From Jeff Shi to Mendes and/or his business partner

“If Fosun does any deal with a football club it’s only for the future benefit of our alliance,”

"very keen to learn from Jorge about how to run a club very well and promote it to Premier League. And you always know the reason for the investment of Wolves is mainly because of our bet and trust on Jorge"

"Jorge can take Wolves as the most reliable partner and agency revenue source for long long time”

It doesn't matter what Hobbs says or wants. As long as Fosun are our owners, all they want is for us to retain PL status and pump TV money into/through Jorge Mendes

How a soccer agent and Chinese billionaire aimed to trade in players

The Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes joined forces with investors from Shanghai and planned to cash in on buying and selling athletes, documents show.

www.reuters.com

This is from 4 years ago and pre-COVID tbf. A fuck ton of things have changed since 2019.

Big grain of salt, IMO.

 

[Kenny]

I do think the landscape has changed now though, with the narrative coming out that we're no longer working with Jorge - whether that's true or not is another matter.

We can't just shut Jorge out. A working relationship will always have to be there, especially when he is the agent of our players. The way it is being reported is we want to reduce the need for Jorge to give us players. A good sign of that is the Neves/Fati stuff.
12 months ago we are all over that deal because Jorge has decided it, regardless of the players thoughts (see Guedes for the perfect example), this year we have said no ta and Jorge has had to come out and say Fati is staying at Barca

 

[Del Woppio]

This is from 4 years ago and pre-COVID tbf. A fuck ton of things have changed since 2019.

Big grain of salt, IMO.

A lot of things have changed; instead of spending £10-15m on exciting young talent like Jota and Neves, we're spending £30-40m on guff like Guedes, Cunha, Silva and Semedo. Now because of that we'll be back to the £10-15m range, but it's always money that's going to have that cunt's oily finger prints on it

 

[Kenny]

Decent record and not just in Italy.

Good age and a decent price.

Probably nonsense.

Always feel these types of rumours where 3 or 4 clubs are named are either click bait type stories or shite agents trying to whip up interest

 

[Del Woppio]

Option B makes no sense, they only hold a tiny minority stake in Gestifute and in any case a football club is on a completely different scale in terms of profile and finance.

Not in terms of ongoing profitability though - Gestifute will have a far, far healthier bottom line. They actually paid more for 15% in Gestifute (well, the holding company) than they paid for all of Wolves

As long as we're a PL club, Fosun will be happy. Investment worth probably 10 times what they paid, and pushing a shit tonne of money through Mendes

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Not in terms of profitability though - Gestifute will have a far, far healthier bottom line.

Still doesn't make sense though.

How do you make millions out of a football club? Start with billions.

 

[Tredman]

Unless there are other reasons for moving money around

 

[EnglishBob]

Where do we feel the club's ambitions lie these days?

Is it to be fourth worst team in the Prem, i.e. just avoid relegation? Are the dreams of qualifying for Europe a distant memory, or do we think the club still have a "5 year plan" to get back there?

When you see the likes of Chelsea spending unlimited sums on transfers (yeah, I know), you realise just how uneven the playing field is. Aren't they subject to FFP too?