Football writer Alex Keble assesses each Premier League club and their prospects for the 2024/25 season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves ended the campaign in the same place they began it: unsure, and a little unnerved.
Gary O’Neil was parachuted in on the eve of the 2023/24 season to widespread predictions of a struggle but he was almost immediately a hit, lifting Wolves towards a top-10 finish – until a collapse in spring.
They won only five points from their final 10 Premier League matches of the season. That was a worrying way for things to end, although it’s worth noting O’Neil, who has signed a new four-year contract on the eve of the new campaign, has never had a pre-season before.
He came in at AFC Bournemouth mid-season in 2022/23 and arrived at Wolves in early August last year. A full summer with the squad offers the chance of a much-needed reset.
Performance last season
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -13 | 48 |
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
FA Cup: Quarter-final
EFL Cup: Third round
Last five seasons
| Season | League position |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 7th |
| 2020/21 | 13th |
| 2021/22 | 10th |
| 2022/23 | 13th |
| 2023/24 | 14th |
Best Premier League finish
Seventh: 2018/19; 2019/20
See: More about Wolves' history
Season aims
Wolves have finished in the top 10 only once in the last four seasons, so that has to be their target for this campaign.
For that to happen, they must avoid starting and finishing as slowly as they did in 2023/24. Better luck with injuries – Pedro Neto was available for only 19 starts last seasons – should help.
Key transfers
Losing Maximilian Kilman is an unfortunate blow, not least because a sale to West Ham United shows how far Wolves have fallen since they were regularly pushing for Europe.
But their new signings have impressed so far. Winger Rodrigo Gomes, who had 14 goal involvements in 30 matches in Portugal last season, looks like a smart piece of business.
Wolves' key transfers so far
| Player | Transfer Type | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Doyle |  Transfer In |
Manchester City |
| Rodrigo Gomes | Transfer In |
Braga |
| Jorgen Strand Larsen | Loan In |
Celta Vigo |
| Pedro Lima | Transfer In |
Sport Recife |
| Maximilian Kilman |  Transfer Out |
West Ham |
| Pedro Neto | Transfer Out |
Chelsea |
See: Clubs' summer 2024 transfers
Tactics
O’Neil is a reactive tactician, most comfortable spending the week finding opposition flaws and adapting his team accordingly.
But broadly speaking Wolves are a counter-attacking team who focus on dribbling through the thirds, funnelling their attacks through Matheus Cunha and Neto.
Injury report
| Player | Injury | Full details |
|---|---|---|
| Leon Chiwome | Ankle | - |
| Enso Gonzalez | Knee | Details |
| Daniel Podence | - | Details |
| Matheus Cunha | - | Details |
Pre-season results and fixtures
15 July Como 1907 0-1 Wolves Report
20 July Wolves 3-0 Bristol City Report
28 July West Ham 1-3 Wolves Report
1 Aug Crystal Palace 3-1 Wolves Report
4 Aug RB Leipzig 0-3 Wolves Report
10 Aug v Rayo Vallecano (H) Details
Best XI (4-4-1-1)
Jose Sa; Nelson Semedo, Toti Gomes, Craig Dawson, Rayan Ait-Nouri; Pedro Neto, Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, Pablo Sarabia; Matheus Cunha; Hwang Hee-chan
Opening PL fixtures
Kits
See: More details at Wolves' online store