Wolves ‘expected’ to follow new manager deal with January signing spree
Wolves could face heavy financial consequences should they spend big in January and fail to secure their Premier League status.
That is according to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley who exclusively told Football Insider that any new manager at Wolves may want assurances over January spending plans.
Wolves sacked Vitor Pereira with the club bottom of the Premier League table with just two points and no wins this season.
Pereira lost key players in the summer transfer window as Matheus Cunha joined Man United, whilst stars Nelson Semedo and Rayan Ait-Nouri also departed, which has impacted their performances this campaign.
Wolves warned of January spending
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley believes Wolves will be able to spend in the January transfer window in a bid to rectify their position at the bottom of the table, but they must prepare for the probability of relegation.
“It’s absolutely about how much risk they want to build into this,” Plumley said.
“We know the numbers, so if you get relegated from the Premier League, you lose £60m of revenue overnight. That’s the difference between the TV payment and the finishing bottom and the difference between a first year parachute payment.
“So they know exactly where they will be financially. Their turnover at the last count was £177m. They’re in that kind of ballpark across the Premier League years.
“If you’re gonna lose £60m of that by getting relegated, your decision in January, of course, is how much do we spend and what’s the trade off. If you can spend £20m and stay up, you win it.
“But you could spend £20m and still get relegated, and then you’ve got the double hit of of expense and, then obviously, relegation as well. So we see a lot of clubs do it.
“There’s no guarantee, but I would expect to see a new manager come in and and Wolves to spend in January because they’ll be wanting to secure that Premier League status because the TV money is is absolutely, you know, pivotal to that conversation, and and you know exactly where you’re gonna be if you drop out of that league.
“I think if you look at a manager situation, it’s highly likely that they will spend, how much, we don’t know.
“You could absolutely be right in thinking that any new manager coming in would want to be wanting to have assurances that there’s gonna be some chance for him to invest in the playing squad.“
Rob Edwards leading managerial contender
Middlesborough boss Rob Edwards is close to becoming the next Wolves manager, after the 42-year-old was absent from training and had his pre-match press conference cancelled.
Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was also a contender, whilst former Wolves boss Gary O’Neil pulled out of the running to return to Molineux.
Edwards would be a popular appointment with the Wolves support after playing for the club for four years between 2004 and 2008.