Guardian writers’ predicted position: 8th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Doyle’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 7th
Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 200-1
Wolves played more matches than any other Premier League team last season and used fewer players in the league than anyone else. So when their first significant move in the transfer window was to sell one of their most trusty performers, Matt Doherty, to the team who finished one place above them, Wolves provoked dismay and confusion. Not only were fans bewildered by the sale of Doherty to Spurs, for the relatively piffling sum of £15m, but many feared that Nuno Espírito Santo would be outraged, too.
After all, the first thing the manager had said after his weary side lost to Sevilla in August’s Europa League quarter-final was that reinforcements were badly needed. Did Doherty’s sale show that the club were instead going to trim an already lean operation so much that Nuno would refuse to extend his own contract, which expires next summer? After three seasons of joy and progress under the Portuguese manager, was a beautiful relationship drifting towards a bitter end?
That question will lurk like a raven until Nuno signs a new deal but the fears sharpened by Doherty’s departure were softened at least a little by what Wolves did next – because splashing out £35m on an 18-year-old striker, Fabio Silva, is not the behaviour of a club dialling down its ambition. Then Wolves signed Fernando Marçal from Lyon and loaned in the 20-year-old midfielder Vitinha from Porto. There may be more before the transfer window closes, although the club are certainly not going to go on a trolley dash and, indeed, Nuno does not like to work with a very large squad. If the select few additions include high-class replacements for Doherty and the injured Jonny Castro, and if any bids for Raúl Jiménez or Adama Traoré are resisted, then Wolves will be set fair for another season of progress and perhaps a renewal of their vows with Nuno.
Not having to combine domestic duties with a European campaign could make this the season where Wolves make their strongest push yet for a top-four finish and a cup – so long as they are spared serious injuries to players for whom they do not have obvious deputies. If they lost João Moutinho, for instance, they would need Vitinha to fulfil his potential very quickly.
Injury has deprived them of their buccaneering left wing-back, Jonny, who will not return from cruciate damage until January at the earliest. Maybe Nuno will turn Marçal into a top-grade left wing-back but the Brazilian did not fit that description when he played the role at Lyon, where his best performances came as a left-sided central defender. Ruben Vinagre stood in for Jonny last season but does not seem a sustainable solution and may be allowed to leave. Nuno does not like unhappiness to fester so tends to be quick to get shot of players he does not think he can develop to the required level, as Patrick Cutrone and Jesús Vallejo found out.
The manager has developed plenty of players, of course, from the new England international Conor Coady to the unique superstar Traoré. Silva is probably not ready to start regularly in the Premier League just yet but the chances of him fulfilling his extraordinary potential under Nuno are high. Similarly, Wolves can expect big contributions this season from Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto, both of whom showed thrilling promise in their debut seasons and will force Diogo Jota to up his game or take a rest. Wolves, then, have plenty of attacking options, especially out wide.
Vitinha may even play alongside Moutinho at times when more than one artful passer is needed in the middle. Rúben Neves does not do enough in that sense and, though a fine player, also has scope to improve so that he exerts more control from the middle. Leander Dendoncker has useful box-to-box qualities, is a threat from set pieces and can also do a decent job in central defence.
That first-choice trio is central defence is likely to remain Coady, Romain Saïss and Willy Boly, with Marçal and Dendoncker offering alternatives combinations. As a unit Wolves are admirably tight, which is why they faced fewer shots last season than any team outside the top five. If the wing-backs remain secure, then Wolves will retain their defensive poise, especially as they can be confident that Rui Patrício will continue to be a quietly outstanding goalkeeper.
Quick guide
Wolves’ history in 100 words
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Wolves are one of only five clubs to have won the title in all four of England’s top divisions but if you can remember the last time they were the best team in the country, then perhaps you used to be a rag-and-bone man or a member of the Perry Como fan club. They tried to recapture their glory years in the early 1970s and reached their first European final, only to lose to Spurs. Steve Bull and Mick ‘Merlin’ McCarthy have worked kinds of magic after that, but only since an injection of Portuguese talent have Wolves looked like becoming great again.
The manager
On the touchline Nuno has “the ideal personality”, according to his Sheffield United counterpart Chris Wilder, who said last season that he admired how the Portuguese is able to convey passion while remaining cool.
On Zoom Nuno sometimes gives the impression he would rather undergo extensive root canal treatment than sit around talking to journalists, though he is never openly hostile. When he deigns to elaborate on a topic or a player, you know it is something he feels really needs to be said.
The key
Jiménez is the perfect centre-forward for Wolves: he can score in all kinds of ways and also joins in buildups and works ferociously to defend from the front. He is a Champions League-class forward whom Wolves would find very difficult to replace in the short term if he were lured away.
Kit story
In 1890 Wolves turned up for a match in Sunderland wearing red and white stripes. Never wanting to be confused with such opponents again, they decided to switch to a unique combination of black and old gold, apparently inspired by the motto of the city of Wolverhampton: “out of darkness cometh light”.
The owners
Fosun International, a Chinese investment company with stakes in various leisure companies, bought the club in 2016 when it was in the Championship. Their ambition and money, and a handy working relationship with top agent Jorge Mendes, have helped the club to attract Nuno and many gifted players.
Young blood
Neto showed tremendous promise last season after his arrival from Lazio and, now aged 20, he can be expected to make a bigger splash in the Premier League. Fast, tricky and goal-hungry, he could make one of the wide attacking spots his own, and Nuno plans to help him become a deadly option through the middle, too.
New blood
The thinking at Molineux is that £35m will prove to be a bargain price for Silva, a teenager with the potential to become a superstar. A prodigy at Porto, Silva is a central attacker who looks to have all the qualities, including the temperament, to become a long-term successor to, or partner for, Jiménez.
Notes from an empty stadium
Post-lockdown Molineux is bedecked with sundry banners, many bearing Wolverhampton’s motto in a variety of languages. Some translations may not have been as well sourced as others (“Lumière cometh hors de l’obscurité” suggests that out of machines cometh gibberish).
Euros vision
Coady had to wait until this week to make his England debut but took the opportunity to prove he will be a useful option if Gareth Southgate deploys a back three at Euro 2020.
