With the January transfer window now open, Wolves’ sporting director Matt Hobbs has spoken about where the club stands in the winter market.
January 2023 was a successful window for the football club, with the six signings providing a mix of experience for the present and potential for the future, which helped Wolves retain their Premier League status and continue to move in the right direction under Gary O’Neil this season.
But during the summer, the club was clear in its desire to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, and with other sides starting to face sanctions for breaching those rules, that approach remains moving into January 2024.
Hobbs said: “We’ve had a really good start to the season, Gary, the staff and players have done an unbelievable job, and if we can support Gary in the market we will, but we’re trying to be a self-sustainable club.
“We dealt with the most pressing profit and sustainability issues during the summer in a positive and proactive way, so while Gary knows we’ll support him if we can, we’re also not going to put ourselves in any danger whatsoever.
“If players have gone out on loan, we can look to replace them, but they’ve got to be better than what we’ve got. The boys have done unbelievably well, and we have some talented young players coming through who want more minutes off the bench, but if we can improve what we’ve got, and help Gary and the squad be more competitive, then we will, within the financial position.
“Let’s focus on the players we’ve have in the building. Gary has spoken about developing the players that are here and I think all of them have improved under him, and that will continue to be the case. A lot of the time solutions lie within, but if we can help, we of course will.”
Wolves have used just 23 players in the Premier League this term – no club has used less – which illustrates the consistency of O’Neil’s group and the work of the medical team. However, the head coach will be without top scorer Hee Chan Hwang, regular left-wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and midfielder Boubacar Traore for some of January and possibly February, as they’ve departed for international duty.
But their absences present an opportunity for others. Over the festive period, Santiago Bueno and Tommy Doyle, to name two, seamlessly replaced regular starters in O’Neil’s starting eleven, and Hobbs is keen to focus on the whole squad, and those supporting them, before looking at any potential incomings.
“It’s about the long-term strategy of self-sustainability. We’ve got a lot of employees at the football club that we’re responsible for, a lot of people who work hard and do great jobs – if you look at what Phil Hayward [head of high performance] and Kai Win [first-team doctor] and their team have done, they’ve ensured we’ve got one of the best injury records in the league.
“It’s about building a whole club, rather than looking for answers in transfer windows and being reactive. If we have the right plan, have the right staff and all work together, then it’s a much healthier way for the club to evolve.”
While Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva have been allowed to leave early in the window after limited game time, Wolves have done their due diligence on potential targets that may come to fruition later in the window.
“We’ve been looking for a while, but the market is restricted, there’s not a lot of business going on and not a lot of players available. You’re not going to take a player from a team’s starting eleven as nobody wants to make themselves weaker.
“Also, if you look at the amount of minutes Sasa and Fabio have played between them, we’re not looking to replace lots of minutes, so there’s not an immediate rush. While we do want to bring someone in, they’ve got to be the right person, but it’s not easy when we’re trying to find the best players clubs aren’t using.
“There’s no rush. As big clubs will spend money, other players become available. You don’t want to move too early and better players become available later in the window. We need to find the right person to add to our squad moving forward.
“Our net is very small because three or four other Premier League clubs are also looking for a centre forward and you’re taking them from someone’s bench or from an unknown market, hoping they adapt quickly to the Premier League.”
