Preparing for the Drop

In August of 2020, Wolves played in the Europa League quarterfinals where they were narrowly beaten by the eventual champions, Sevilla. That COVID Europa League run was the cherry on top for the best period for the club in 70 years. Wolverhampton's return to the Premier League in 2018 was electric. It was a team full of ballers including Raúl Jiménez, Diogo Jota, Adama Traore, Joao Moutinho, Matt Doherty, and Ruben Neves. They were so fun to watch and stormed to back-to-back 7th place finishes. As the years passed by after those incredible first few years, the team began to trickle down the table. Their best players moved on, and they worked to replace them. The club hung steady for a while, but the quality deficit eventually grew too large. They're doomed for relegation. The details of how they got here aren't important right now, what's done is done. The most important thing is how they're preparing to rebuild from the Championship. Mistakes are being accepted in the West Midlands and they're taking the proactive approach to the future.

Wolves will have a significant monetary advantage next year in the Championship. Despite that, they will need to shed some of the wage bill going into next season. Wolves' current wage bill sits at over $60 million a year. The top end of the Championship usually has wage bills that are about half of that. Some teams purposefully keep an expensive squad to try to leapfrog straight back into the Premier League. It works sometimes but it's a huge risk. Failure to go right back up puts the club behind financially and levels the playing field with the rest of the league. Leicester City are a great example of the risk and reward. In 2022/23 they were relegated from the Premier League and entered the Championship with the highest wage bill in the division. They stormed to promotion and came right back to the Premiership. After going straight back down, they decided to take the same approach. Now, they sit in the relegation zone with the highest wages in the league. Relegation or not, they'll need to blow it up and rebuild.

Knowing that they need to be wary financially, Wolverhampton has essentially been converted to a shop window. They sold Jørgen Strand Larsen to Crystal Palace for a profit of over $20 million. Not only did they make good money, but they also removed one of the highest wages from the bill. He was replaced with the smart signing of Adam Armstrong, a proven Championship striker. They also were able to flip Jhon Arias for a small profit after his lackluster excursion in England. Moving on from those players and a few others was wise. Post-relegation they might not be able to leverage the same prices they could at mid-season. They were right to capitalize on the opportunity and will likely auction off more talent this summer.

The other smart thing that Rob Edwards is doing is focusing on development. The sale of Strand Larsen opened up minutes and responsibility for Tolu Arokudare who appears to be their number 9 moving forward. Starlet Matheus Mane has also quickly transitioned from super-sub to focal point. He looks like the real deal. Edwards trust in him will pay off in the Championship or this summer should they chose to sell him. Loanee Angel Gomes has gone straight into the team as well, and the club is no doubt accessing whether they want to exercise their option to buy. It's important for Wolves to figure out who they can trust and invest fully in those players. They're taking the right steps to set themselves up to rebound. This historically bad season doesn't spell doom for the club's once very bright future.