The Wolves squad for the 2024/25 season has largely taken shape, as Gary O'Neil's side aim to improve on last term's 14th-placed Premier League finish.
Wolves posted their lowest finish since promotion last term, and although they reached the FA Cup quarter-finals, defeat to Coventry effectively ended their season.
They’ve previously labelled themselves a ‘challenger club’ and will do well to get near the European positions. Two strikers are a must and players bought in the £5m-15m bracket have generally served Wolves well recently.
The early summer additions of Rodrigo Gomes (winger, Braga) and Brazil youth international Pedro Lima (right-back, Recife) have already seen them delve into that area again and excited fans, who are desperate to keep Rayan Ait Nouri, Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha. The sale of Pedro Neto will need to be addressed sooner rather than later, however.
Also, strikers are essential. It’s part of a wider issue about squad size, but Wolves left themselves ridiculously light. Gary O’Neil didn’t fancy Fabio Silva or Sasa Kalajdzic, and before both departed on loan he preferred to pick other players out of position.
They haven’t had any success with No.9s since signing Raul Jimenez in 2019, and it’s a credit to O’Neil that they scored as many as they did with limited attacking options. Almost a dozen teenagers were drafted in to plug the gaps, yet they weren’t ready for the rigours of high-pressure football.
Chiquinho and Yerson Mosquera will be given a chance in pre-season, but there have to be significantly more ins than outs.
Wolves squad for 2024/25
Wolves squad for 2024/25: Gary O'Neil's full team
- GK: Jose Sa
- GK: Dan Bentley
- GK: Tom King
- DF: Matt Doherty
- DF: Rayan Ait-Nouri
- DF: Santiago Bueno
- DF: Yerson Mosquera
- DF: Craig Dawson
- DF: Hugo Bueno
- DF: Nelson Semedo
- DF: Toti
- DF: Pedro Lima
- MF: Mario Lemina
- MF: Boubacar Traore
- MF: Joao Gomes
- MF: Tommy Doyle
- MF: Luke Cundle
- FW: Jorgen Strand Larsen
- FW: Daniel Podence
- FW: Hwang Hee-chan
- FW: Matheus Cunha
- FW: Sasa Kalajdzic
- FW: Rodrigo Gomes
- FW: Pablo Sarabia
- FW: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde
- FW: Tawana Chirewa
- FW: Goncalo Guedes
- FW: Enso Gonzalez
- FW: Chiquinho
- FW: Nathan Fraser
Wolves squad numbers for 2024/25
Wolves manager
Gary O'Neil
Despite winning just one of the final 11 games of last season, Gary O’Neil surpassed all expectations after arriving at the 11th hour. Beating Manchester City as well as doubles against Chelsea and Tottenham were highlights, not forgetting an historic FA Cup win at arch-rivals West Brom. Speculation suggested he might leave this summer, but that has gone.
Wolves' key player
Craig Dawson
For all of the flair players in the squad, Craig Dawson was sorely missed by fans and teammates while out injured for the last month of the 2023/24 campaign. Stable at the back and a goal threat at the other end, the veteran centre-half is simply indispensable.
One to watch
Pedro Lima
Signed from Brazilian side Recife, the 18-year-old attacking right-back was recently linked to Chelsea and Manchester City before Wolves ‘fought them off’ in classic transfer fashion. It remains to be seen if he’ll be loaned out, but YouTube (as ever) suggests there’s plenty to be enthused about.
The mood
It's not great, to be honest. Fans were hit by huge season ticket price hikes, with 10% deciding against renewing their seats. Continued rumours about owners Fosun looking for external funds or a full sale aren’t being dismissed, so people aren’t quite sure what comes next. On-field investment will quieten down the boo boys, but will it be enough to move the club and team on?
Most likely to...
Give Molineux a facelift. Another frustration for fans has been a lack of care given to their much-loved home, which has appeared noticeably tired in recent years. The statue of legend Billy Wright enjoyed a touch-up at the start of the summer and supporters have campaigned for a stadium-wide spruce. Right then, what RAL is ‘old gold’?
Least likely to...
Sell Fabio Silva. Over several transfer windows, it’s been hoped Wolves would find a buyer for the £35m signing, but it’s failed to materialise. The Portuguese still has two years to run on his deal, so the pain and drain on resources might not be over yet.
View from the stands
Jordan Russell (@jordruss7)
Last season was full of adversity, with Julen Lopetegui leaving on the eve of the campaign before a failure to back Gary O’Neil in January cost us an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The big talking point is VAR getting the thumbs up from the other 19 teams in the league. They had the chance to make positive change and bottled it.
This season will be different because we'll have a full pre-season under O’Neil. Between October and January, we saw the foundations of a top-10 Premier League side.
I won’t be happy unless we sign four or five quality players. We’ve hamstrung ourselves ever since getting promoted by building small squads that run out of steam come March.
Our key player will be Matheus Cunha – a class act who we desperately miss when he’s out. He helps us to transition at pace on the break with his ability to run with the ball.
Our most underrated player is Joao Gomes – not necessarily by Wolves fans, but those of other teams who don’t realise how good he actually is.
Look out for Wesley Okoduwa. He consistently made the bench in the later stages of last season at only 15 years old. An England youth international with a big future.
The opposition player I'd love here is Rodri – simply the best player in the league.
The opposition player who grinds my gears is John McGinn, who spends more time on the floor rolling around than on his feet.
The active player I'd love to have back is Diogo Jota, in a heartbeat. My favourite player of the Fosun era by some distance.
The player I'd happily drive to another club is Fabio Silva – he’d struggle to get a game for Wombourne Wanderers in the Kidderminster League.
The pantomime villain will be Morgan Gibbs-White. He doesn’t like us and we don’t particularly like him either.
The thing my club really gets right is the fantastic work the Wolves Foundation does for the community.
The one change I'd make would be to nuke the Steve Bull Stand, rebuild it, then smarten the whole place up with a lick of paint.
Our season ticket prices are scandalous.
I'm least looking forward to playing Manchester City at the Etihad – we’ve been met with two Erling Haaland hat-tricks on our last two visits.
The fans' opinion of the gaffer is really positive. O’Neil has credit in the bank after keeping us up last season and earned the right to have a good go at cracking the top 10 this term.
If he left, he should be replaced by Kieron McKenna or Mark Robins, as they feel somewhat realistic. Don’t be surprised to see Rob Edwards approached if O’Neil left.
We'll finish 14th.
