Premier League 2024-25 preview No 20: Wolves

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 13th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 14th

Prospects

Wolves sold their captain as well as their best player this summer but rather than getting the excuses in early there is a determination to kick on, after their hopes of a European berth faded badly last season, winning one of their final 11 matches after injuries and fatigue exposed a thin squad. After Pedro Neto’s £54m move to Chelsea was confirmed, Wolves’s sporting director, Matt Hobbs, suggested it was the “right deal at the right time” and the same could be argued for Max Kilman, for whom Wolves received £40m from West Ham, a considerable profit on the £40,000 they paid Maidenhead United for him six years ago.

How they reinvest that money will surely shape whether a top-half finish feels attainable. There is at least a freshness, with Yerson Mosquera, back from a successful loan at Villarreal, and Toti Gomes likely to form a new-look centre-back partnership, while the fizzy winger Rodrigo Gomes, 21, and right-back Pedro Lima, 18, have signed from Braga and Sport Recife respectively.

There is a welcome addition in attack, too: the 6ft 4in Norway striker Jørgen Strand Larsen on loan from Celta Vigo, who Wolves hope will provide the kind of focal point they have missed since Raúl Jiménez suffered a skull fracture in November 2020. Wolves can spot a talented youngster – the all-action João Gomes, now a Brazil regular, is the most salient example – but Gary O’Neil has conceded they need to add Premier League-ready players to tackle “the here and now”.

The sense is that the first few weeks will prove pivotal. They face a tricky start at Arsenal on Saturday before meeting Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City in five of their following seven matches. “It is a real test of where we are and the work we have done,” O’Neil said. “Over the course of the season I’m really confident we will be able to get enough results to make sure we have another successful season.” By November, will they be battle-hardened or worn-down? Then there is the transfer deadline on 30 August, before which Wolves hope to strengthen their pack with at least a centre-back and a winger.

The manager

Gary O’Neil had a solid if not spectacular playing career but as a manager he has evolved into one of the country’s most highly rated coaches, to the point he was floated as an England candidate. It is part of the reason Wolves moved to tie O’Neil and his staff, including the former Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun Derry, down to new four-year contracts. “He might be the humblest manager I have ever worked with and one of the most hard-working coaches I’ve ever met,” said the Wolves chairman, Jeff Shi. When Mario Lemina’s father died last December, O’Neil told him to take all the time he needed. The proud owner of a Ferrari F430 Spider F1 while at Middlesbrough, he was a flashier player than he is a manager.

Off-field picture

“Essentially, every summer I probably have to sell someone at a high value,” Hobbs said earlier this year, alluding to Wolves’ model, one they are increasingly mindful of given profitability and sustainability parameters. For Pedro Neto, read Matheus Nunes, Rúben Neves, Morgan Gibbs-White and, before that, Diogo Jota. “The reason we get players like Pedro is because this is our model and not everyone will love that,” Hobbs acknowledged. It has not been one-way traffic, though, with Wolves hiring Jack Wilson from Manchester City in July as their first set-piece coach. Wilson previously worked as a performance analyst at City, Brentford and Hearts, and also Northern Ireland. “If you stand still for a moment in football, you get left behind quickly because it’s moving on tactically,” O’Neil said.

Breakout star

Still only 22, Tommy Doyle is among those in the squad with a high ceiling. The former Manchester City midfielder has put in the hard yards – he had four loans in the past three years, including a stint at Hamburg and last season at Wolves – and after completing a £4.3m permanent move he is putting down roots. He may have to play second-fiddle to Lemina and João Gomes if O’Neil plays a 4-2-3-1 but having deputised for Lemina, the new captain, in pre-season he is clearly trusted. Doyle has pedigree: his paternal grandfather was Mike Doyle and maternal grandfather Glyn Pardoe, with the pair former long-time teammates at City. All the signs point towards another season of progress.

A-lister

It is easy to spot Hwang Hee-chan after matches at Molineux: just look for the snaking queue outside the players’ car park in front of the Billy Wright Stand where supporters congregate to collect autographs and photos, with the South Korea forward only too happy to oblige, usually long after the final whistle. Hwang is second only to Son Heung-min in terms of his status in Seoul, where Hwang was given a hero’s welcome on return in May, and such is his strong band of followers, many travel from his homeland to attend individual matches. Hwang enjoyed a fine last season, being rewarded with a new contract until 2028 before a hamstring injury stymied his progress. During Wolves’s pre-season tour to the US this summer, 750 Korean fans attended a Q+A session with the forward.

What they did this summer

During downtime Stateside Matt Doherty, wearing a Baltimore Orioles shirt decorated with ‘Wolverhampton 24’ on the reverse, threw the first pitch at a baseball game against Toronto Blue Jays. “My hands were soaking – I was a lot nervier than I anticipated,” the defender said. Nélson Semedo, the players’ player of the season last campaign, was a substitute in all five of Portugal’s Euro 2024 matches. Boubacar Traoré featured for Mali at the Olympics in Paris, where Enso González suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury 14 minutes into Paraguay’s first game. Wolves’ first pre-season friendly, behind closed doors in Marbella, was overshadowed by alleged racial abuse after a Como defender compared Hwang to Jackie Chan, prompting the Serie A club to release a startling statement accusing Wolves of blowing the incident “out of proportion”.