Inside the woe at Wolves: The power vacuum that cost them in the summer, Vitor Pereira's ill-advised transfer demands, the stars they missed out on and why Nuno Espirito Santo is likely to return

When Jeff Shi pictured his 10th anniversary at Wolves, he may have imagined the club replacing Manchester City as the dominant force in English football. As he limps towards that milestone now, Shi would give everything simply to keep Wolves in the same division.

Both executive chairman Shi and owners Fosun Sports Group are in the sights of angry supporters, who believe their mistakes are sending the club towards the Championship.

The natural response of the wider football public is to assume coach Vitor Pereira will pay the penalty for a wretched tally of two points from nine games yet these issues run far deeper than the identity of the guy in the dugout.

The discontent among Wolves fans is understandable and few would defend Shi right now. Yet I would argue that the errors have been made in good faith.

Managed decline this is not: Fosun have continued to spend on players and managers, but results have never matched those of the Nuno Espirito Santo era, when Wolves finished seventh twice, and reached the FA Cup semi-finals and Europa League quarter-finals.

Instead Wolves have suffered from their failure to stick to a clear plan, or to learn from mis-steps. That is why this season’s events feel like a rehashed version of the past.

Summer blunders

There are different routes to success. If used smartly, the financial firepower of the elite makes them hard to beat. To hope to test them, clubs need an innovative structure (Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth) or to find a transformational manager (Unai Emery at Aston Villa) or a special group of players (Leicester’s 2016 title winners). Wolves ticked the second two boxes under Nuno but since he left, they have never looked like repeating it and this summer was a case study in why.

Matt Hobbs had a mixed record at Wolves but when the sporting director left at the start of June, there was a vacuum where a clear transfer policy should have been. 

There were 12 days between his departure and the appointment of a five-man football leadership team, which included Pereira and his close ally Domenico Teti, brought in to shore up the manager’s position.

Perhaps left starry-eyed by Pereira’s results in the second half of last season, Shi seemed desperate to make his manager feel loved, and Pereira was given considerable influence over transfer dealings. Nothing wrong with that in theory – until you look at the business Wolves did.

Apparently passing up the chance to sign proven Premier League competitors like David Brooks, Harry Wilson or Kyle Walker-Peters, the recruitment team had to fulfil Pereira’s demand for athletic, physically-imposing players who suited his 3-4-2-1 system. 

For that reason, Wolves turned their backs on Coventry right back Milan van Ewijk. While no superstar, Van Ewijk has looked one of the best performers outside the top flight for some time and would surely have been a clever acquisition.

Instead, Wolves spent about £100million on players who had never played in England and asked them to learn on the job in a weakened team. It was no way to replace Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo.

Inspired by the success of signing Premier League newbies Joao Moutinho and Raul Jimenez in 2018, perhaps Shi thought he could pull off the same trick this summer. Yet super-agent Jorge Mendes does not have equivalent talents among his clients these days, or if he does, he isn’t sending them to Wolves. Cue the arrival of Ladislav Krejci and Tolu Arokodare – hardly Moutinho or Jimenez in disguise even though Krejci has been one of the few bright performers during this grim run.

Where is the plan?

When Shi closes his eyes at night, does he regret sacking Nuno in summer 2021? Relations between the pair had deteriorated but might not they have been repaired? With Mendes driving the deals, Nuno and Wolves were good for one another.

Shi has searched for a similar sweet spot ever since and never found it. In his desperation to recapture it, Wolves have lurched from one idea to another, with none lasting very long. They tried to repeat the Nuno-Mendes relationship by hiring Bruno Lage, who was out after barely a year despite huge transfer spending in summer 2022.

Julen Lopetegui was paid the thick end of £12m and given control of transfers to keep Wolves up in 2023 – which he did, before leaving amid misunderstandings with the hierarchy. After a successful first season, Gary O’Neil was sacked in December 2024, months after he and his staff were given new four-year deals.

When Wolves hired O’Neil, Hobbs was given power to shape the club like a modern sporting director. Yet as soon as Pereira arrived, that structure was overhauled to make the manager happy. If Pereira leaves, what then?

Only a fool would rule out Nuno returning to Wolves one day. The Portuguese can be inspirational at a particular type of club and from 2017-21, that was Wolves. West Ham have little patience with managers and with or without Fosun in charge, it would be no surprise to see Nuno back in Old Gold before he calls it a day.

If he does, it is hard to imagine many of this summer’s signings still being around. Fer Lopez is highly regarded by many at Wolves and may still come good yet £20m felt a huge fee for a player with minimal top-flight experience. Then there is Krejci, Arokodare, Jackson Tchatchoua, Jhon Arias and David Moller Wolfe. None of them have hit the ground running.

Pereira knew Arias from Brazilian football and hand-picked him. The others were identified by a mixture of live and video scouting and recommendations from agents and trusted contacts. It felt like there was little margin for error, and so it has proved.

What next for Fosun?

After the defeat by Burnley and the chaotic scenes that followed, where Pereira appeared to shout angrily at supporters on the South Bank, Daily Mail Sport wrote: ‘While the Chinese conglomerate cannot simply click their fingers and sell the club, they should probably think carefully about whether to keep executive chairman Jeff Shi in place.

‘It might not stop Wolves hurtling into the Championship but if nothing else, the removal of Shi would at least buy back a little goodwill from those in Old Gold.’

Like the Kop at Anfield or the Holte End at Villa Park, the South Bank sets the tone for Molineux. Right now, they are fed up and that spreads to the rest of the stadium. If Shi steps aside, it would surely lighten the mood a little.

During Shi’s near-decade as chairman, Wolves have had some of their greatest results of modern times and this is their eighth consecutive season in the Premier League. He was at the helm when players like Moutinho, Jimenez, Ruben Neves, Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota and Cunha shone in Old Gold. 

Wolves made substantial profits from players they signed in the first half of the Fosun era. Even in leaner days, that must not be disregarded.

Yet with Shi or without him, Fosun do not currently intend to leave the stage. Amid reports of a takeover bid by John Textor, Fosun’s position is that they would welcome only minority investment, and not a full sale.

Minority investors are hard enough to find as a non-elite Premier League club. In the Championship, that would become infinitely more difficult.