Wolves banter 7

16 Jan 2026 12:22:28
This summer will bring the 10th anniversary of Chinese ownership of Wolves. In spite of our lofty plans for dominance in Europe, we will find ourselves back where Fosun found us, in the Championship. Of course, Fosun are hugely culpable, but the root cause is the complete reversal by the Chinese government by then abruptly disallowing investment in football in Europe. Our relegation will complete the rout of failed Chinese owners. Hopefully, Fosun will take the hit as a tax loss and sell us to a decent new owner. This article reminded me of how it all went wrong:

Chinese ownership in European football peaked in the mid-2010s with major investments in clubs like Wolves (Fosun), AC Milan and Inter Milan (Suning), Atletico Madrid (Dalian Wanda), and Slavia Prague (CEFC), but has since declined significantly due to Chinese capital controls, leading to sales and financial struggles, with Wolves remaining a prominent, though challenged, example of Chinese majority ownership in English football.

16 Jan 2026 07:39:08
{Ed's Note - PatrikBurgher has posted a new article entitled, Why Liverpool Need to Rediscover Their Aggressive Identity

15 Jan 2026 15:36:53
Anyone remember when Jorge Mendes helped our club recruit the like of Patricio, Moutinho, Jota and Neves?

It seems he's now decided that he wants to stab us in the back by orchestrating Joao Gomes move away from us.

15 Jan 2026 17:06:58
Or did Fosun stab Mendes in the back by deviating from their original plans to progress the club into a Champions League team with a world class stadium and forcing out many other staff members who had the same ambitions?

First The Points

15 Jan 2026 18:33:14
Again though Good there's an assumption that its behind the club's back. What exactly about our tried and tested history of selling our quality players and replacing them with entirely unproven cheaper players supports that theory?!
Also there's no getting away from the fact that it's a WC year and Gomes will want to be going. So whoever the instigater of this move if it happens in Jan it will ONLY be because the club has been run so incredibly poorly that Gomes (like most decent players) won't see a long term future with us! That's not the players fault and it's not Mendes fault, it's Jeff and Fusons I'm afraid.

You reap what you so and for 4/5 seasons Fosun have been sowing poor quality/Championship level seeds! 😭

15 Jan 2026 18:34:14
You have a point, First. Wolves reneged on the grand plan.

15 Jan 2026 19:04:44
Jorge Mendes threw his toys out of the pram when Matt Hobbs said that the club wanted to deal with all agents and not just those controlled by Jorge Mendes.

Remember when Lyon tried to hijack the Joao Gomes deal? That was Mendes. Likewise, what was the reason Uche decided against joining us? That's right, Mr Mendes.

15 Jan 2026 20:16:32
But again though Good what proof/evidence do you have for either of those statements?! For a start neither of the two players you mention are even clients of Mendes so why exactly would he even be involved in those deals in the first place?! Add to this that in Uches case his camp (not Mendes) clearly intimated that it was in fact Wolves that changed the goal posts late in the day and were trying to penny pinch. In Gomes case Lyon offered his full release fee (we hadn't), luckily the player was determined for the Prem else again we would have lost our to penny pinching.

So again where's the evidence Mendes was even involved?
The club is in charge of its own transfer business and if they are/have failed at it then it's on them. Two fired recruitment teams in less than 12 months would suggest issues, no?! I don't especially like Mendes but this notion that he's suddenly the one behind our demise is not only nonsense it's also a little deluded! Could Mendes have done more maybe but loads of clubs do business with him and I can't see any other clubs or fans blaming their poor transfer managemtn on a third party/agent, can you?!

15 Jan 2026 20:40:39
BullysBoy, you are correct in that Uche is not a client of Mendes, however, Wolves asked Mendes to broker the move. And Uches agent walked away due to Mendes demands. Just type in 'Why did Uche reject Wolves' and you'll see the reasons for yourself. Yes there are other reasons, but Mendes interference is one of them.

15 Jan 2026 21:15:56
That maybe the case Good but firstly just cause someone's written it doesn't make it true and secondly ask yourself WHY have we asked Mendes to oversee the deal? To me it suggests that Fosun (who don't forget own 10% of Gestifute) are using Mendes to squirrel money away from the clubs transfer chest and into there own pockets! Ya know just like they did when Doherty left where Wolves made a pittance of the final transfer fee!
So if like your suggesting Fosun are consistently employing an agent to represent them and consistently getting screwed over by said agent then who exactly is at fault the agent or the company that's instructing him?! If I pay a Financial Advisor to give me advice and they are consistently doing it poorly anything after the first time is entirely on my shoulders, like in this case where it's ENTIRELY on Fosuns!

16 Jan 2026 07:02:54
For those fans who seem confused about the relationship between Fosun and Gestifute.
In 2016, Fosun, through a a subsidiary, acquired a 20% stake in Gestifute.
When Guangchang and two other Fosun directors acquired Wolves,
it was a perfect relationship: Fosun money, good local management, Dalrymple and his team and a strong link with one of the biggest football agency in the world.
To think Mendes does things to the detriment of Wolves is a ridiculous view.


Gestifute generated approximately €1.66 billion in client transfer values in 2025. Post-tax profits were €58.9 million in 2023.
Fosun do very well out of being a part-owner.
Sadly as Bully has said, at the peak of our success, the decision was taken to sack most of the senior management and let Shi run the Club.
We all know how that has turned out. For me, I just can't understand how Guanchang has allowed the decline to become so critical.

16 Jan 2026 08:45:54
So why exactly would Fosun be OK Mendes trying to convince Gomes to sign for Lyon when he'd already given his word to Wolves. What would the benefit be there? I get that Mendes is still used by Wolves to broker deals but let's be honest here, Mendes' priority is Mendes. He does not care about Wolves at all.

16 Jan 2026 16:33:39
I agree Good but all you seem to be doing is making my point for me?! Because the Uche deal was a 18 months after Gomes so do you honestly think that Mendes tried to screw us over on the Gomes deal THEN Fosun went straight back to him to get Uche over the line?! If you really believe that then what does it say about the stupidity of Jeff/Fosun?
It's also worth noting here that the 'trying to convince' part of that is complete speculation, the reality is Lyon triggered his release clause so they were always going to be able to talk to him. For all we know Mendes could have been the very reason he stuck with Wolves?!
We also seem to be having two different debates here cause no where have I said Mendes cares about Wolves but frankly that's not his job! If the club have come off the worst side of his transactions then that's on them, not him! He's an agent first and foremost and (in fairness) he's never pretended otherwise.

I just think blaming him for any of our predicament is kind of the equivalent of having a go at the band on the Titanic! Yeah they might of been poor but it's not what sunk the ship is it?! 👍
Couldn't agree more Rugeley mate, I don't think any of us realised it at the time but the summer when all of our top quality back room left was the beginning of the end. Not just because of the lost talent but because it represented Fosuns complete lack of interest and winding down of the club, fast forward 5 years and we are all now looking for a life raft, such a shame! 😭

15 Jan 2026 12:59:39
Reports are saying Wolves will only buy or loan someone if they sell or loan someone out. The reason being the improvement in the squad over the last 3 or 4 games. There will not be wholesale changes unless players leave.

15 Jan 2026 15:34:53
Well, we should 1 signing and 1 loan now that Holman has left and Hoever has been loaned out.

15 Jan 2026 15:55:43
They would both need to be homegrown which narrows the market and (often) increases the price tag! One of Hoevers only redeeming qualities was that he qualified as homegrown, which we have a VERY real problem with!

15 Jan 2026 21:21:26
I didn't realise that Hugo Bueno qualifies as Home Grown. With Munetsi likely to leave, we have 1 overseas space available as the club can only register 17 in the squad.

15 Jan 2026 07:39:09
{Ed's Note - Madman has posted a new article entitled, Reassessing Wolverhampton Wanderers Recent Transfer Decisions and Squad Management

14 Jan 2026 23:19:27
Day 14 and nowhere near a signing. maybe last week in January we be panic buying. jamie vardy anyone?

15 Jan 2026 06:23:02
Same old story demon, last few days of the window will get here after we have let numerous players leave and they will go into full on panic mode and sign some Spanish or Portuguese under 18 to never be seen again 😂

15 Jan 2026 08:06:00
The club are not in a position to cherry pick who they want. Are the players we know will improve the squad prepared to come to a club knowing that we'll most likely be relegated?

If we were mid table then we'd be more appealing.

15 Jan 2026 08:07:49
Got to be honest, I dunno why people are overly worried about this window.
We're going down, we havnt lost anybody 'yet'!.

OK, I suspect larsen or gomez to leave, maybe Arias but there's little desire bar a WH NF passing glances and a MU Napoli rumbling.
If those should happen we'd need some quick movement and I'd hope we've got that covered to some extent.

We can't really move until we've sold so it's no use worrying just yet.
As we know it's normally a last day/week when movement goes on, plus there's the African Cup to be finalised before players can be assessed.

I don't expect any newcomers until ones gone.

15 Jan 2026 09:02:07
I don't know if it is "headless chickens", "ostrich head in the sand", or "rabbit in headlights" which best describes Fosun's management style. They certainly have a "do nothing" approach to any crisis. Perhaps they believe it will all go away, as their money, our hopes and club prestige all dribble down the drain.

15 Jan 2026 10:46:46
Accepting that we are almost certainly relegated I think the club and RE are going to try and keep the majority of the current players, reassess when the window has closed and then plan for next season in the Championship. If we can keep a strong core of players the task of buying players who would compliment the squad may be easier.

15 Jan 2026 13:30:06
I think the problem is alongside the January window being difficult at the best of times, the club has very few cards to play. If anyone comes who would want to stay next season in the championship, are they going to improve us now?

I expect there is little appetite for anyone who will improve the team wanted to come for a relegation fight that needs a miracle to over turn it.

14 Jan 2026 22:34:31
Athletico madrid want Gomes, they now have the space in the squad after selling Gallagher to spurs it also means they have the wages available and the money, personally I think he will stay until the end of the season he seems like that type of character.

15 Jan 2026 04:28:20
AND Paris FC are to take Munetsi on loan!

Still no news on any incoming players.

14 Jan 2026 09:58:58
Mr Shi MKII has so far been conspicuously quiet since his appointment.
It’s now 2 weeks into the transfer window and absolutely nothing.
I’m starting to feel the worst….as usual probably sell our best players and then on to last minute “bargain basement” failed bids.
Having said that what decent players would want to join this shambolic Shi Circus.
Keep up the fight lads…”Out Of Darkeness”…….

14 Jan 2026 10:33:55
In all honesty Oxley did you really expect anything different. I said before I'd take his words on face value for the time being but the January window would tell us more.

I don't really blame this fella as he's here temporarily to do Shanghai's bidding unlike Jeff Shi who sold everyone a pup for years dragging us down to where we are now.

So far, no incomings, but then again none going out apart from the odd loan, we'll see.

14 Jan 2026 11:02:48
The whole Jeff/nathan thing was just a ploy to stop the embarrassment for fosun due to the protests. Nothing will change while fosun stick to the self sustainable model, if anyone thinks they are going to do what they did when they first bought us and chuck a load of cash at the club to get us back up is living in cloud cuckoo land, they won’t.

The debt we will be liable to won’t change because we are in the championship we still owe that money and mainly to third parties, not like some clubs who’s debt is actually to the owners who can write it off if they wish, we are not in that position.

14 Jan 2026 16:42:51
I'm beginning to think that a quiet transfer window would be a blessing in disguise. Rob has the squad finally playing well. If this continues, the inevitable departures will fetch more in the summer. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses. We don't usually recruit home-grown players, so any new signing from abroad now would be unfamiliar with the PL, and we know how badly that worked out in the summer window.

Serious recruitment should start in the championship after some lucrative end-of-season sales. There's no way we're going to buy survival in this January window.

14 Jan 2026 07:39:07
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 21 - Quick Round Up

14 Jan 2026 00:10:39
Madman - put this in a new thread as the old one will disappear off the front page and so you/others wont see my reply to your long and as always interesting/provoking and well argued post on transfers.
Re Toti it is not his lack of pace that worries me - although as you say a yard of pace in any position takes you a long long way - but his technical ability. In my view it takes him too many touches to bring the ball under control and he simply isn't very good at football or at least not in Prem terms. He will be fine in the Championship My opinion. 
Re Trincao he - as with Fer Lopez and to some extent Guedes - may have been technically adequate, (Fabio isn't/never was), but Trincao lacked one major physical attribute - a heart! He was not like Podence or Sarabia and certainly was nothing like Jota.As JSL has beautifully demonstrated this year, if you lack heart/desire/professionalism/willingness to be here then no amount of talent will compensate. Trincao was a disgrace to the shirt and quite rightly was let go as soon as possible, My opinion. 
Re the other sales can you look back on any of them and say the club did well there and clearly won the deal.
They took place over a long period and were made against a variety of factors - and of course not all deals can be won - but to be on the wrong side of all of them is not unlucky it is incompetent. 
I won't, so as to not bore everyone, discuss all the players but for example the first Doherty could have simply been added to the initial list of obviously under priced sales with RAN, Neves etc. However he is a marmite player who never before or since that golden spell under Nuno has reached the heights he did. When he was sold though he was regarded as a top 6 player but was sold in a great hurry for a bottom 6 price.
Made worse by Wolves paying double that fee plus much higher wages for Semedo - a player far more technically accomplished and with more pace, (physical attributes), but sadly far less effective in both boxes.
He also left on a free - like Traore. How much worse can that be?I know you will say they can't be forced to resign but why didn't they want to resign?
Perhaps the players aren't as stupid as some people make out they are and they, as some of us on here did, could see the writing on the wall and wanted no part in the diabolical mismanagement of the club by Jeff or its toxic environment.


Plus what impact did it have on players like Traore carrying the team as he did in that last year of Nuno's sitting in a dressing room with a boy not fit to lace his boots but who was on far far more money! 
Yes he was offered more money but only once his heart had gone and he wanted out.
How many firms have you worked in where you only got a pay rise offer once you resigned - too late! 
Clearly contracts need to be carefully managed to avoid financial ruin but underpaying proven talents who are contributing whilst massively over paying unproven talents who don't/cant contribute is not the solution
Jimenez, (and Otto), was injury affected and who expected Jimenez to return to the levels he has other than Fulham. But again why did he recover there and not at Wolves? As the squad was dismantled and managers came and went the club became ever more amateurish - it has been a frequent comment that the players are unfit and don't train well. A few bad eggs such as Trincao and Guedes and it seeps in and eventually the whole squad is affected.But why is it still the case now?
I really hate what Jeff has done to the club and sadly I don't think many people realise yet just how bad it could easily get if, as is likely, Wolves do go down.
All this talk of recovery/reset and challenging next season is highly optimistic.Jeff claiming it is no real problem merely tells you how big a problem it is - if you don't know you are in trouble you will be in far more trouble very soon!
Sadly however as I have said before Jeff isn't here to run the club for the fans but Fosun and the difference is not that subtle and indeed is massive although his brilliance and the fans desire for success has meant that most still don't see it!        

14 Jan 2026 11:03:13
Well Bloomin said future.

14 Jan 2026 18:42:13
Spot on Tfig.

14 Jan 2026 21:29:27
I loved watching Adama running down the wing but cannot forgive either him or Semedo for running down their contracts. Adama was on about £50k a week and wanted £150k a week to stay. Wolves offered him £100k a week (£20k more than Fabio) but for 2 years, he refused to sign. He eventually signed for Fulham where he gets just under £90k per week plus his massive signing on fee.

Likewise, Semedo had an offer on the table for a whole year and decided to leave.

14 Jan 2026 21:30:59
Hey TFIOG-Great post and always interesting to compare views.



Madman has written a 1500 word reply which is now an article entitled, Reassessing Wolverhampton Wanderers Recent Transfer Decisions and Squad Management