Clive Rose/Getty Images
Step right up! The Wolverhampton Wanderers summer sale is officially open.
Following relegation back to the Championship, a wave of departures is expected at Molineux. But why, you might ask, would other clubs line up to sign players from a team that suffered one of the worst seasons in Premier League history? The answer is simple: despite fielding one of the most unbalanced, ill-equipped, and underpowered squads seen in the top flight in recent years, Wolves actually have some top-class talent on their books.
Add to that a few players sporting director Matt Jackson and head coach Rob Edwards – assuming he stays for 2026-27 – will be eager to offload as the club resets. If there was any doubt about the desire for change from Edwards, his curt “they’ve got to go” remark in the press conference after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton made it crystal clear.
A grim-faced Rob Edwards applauds the travelling Wolves fans after Saturday’s drubbing at Brighton (Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Those two factors combined mean a summer exodus is likely, even if few Wolves players have boosted their reputations during a season where relegation seemed certain well before Christmas.
There are exceptions, most notably **Mateus Mane**. The young forward was a virtual unknown to all but the most dedicated Wolves fans at the start of the season. Now, at just 18, his talent is widely recognised across the country. Truth be told, his impact on Wolves’ season was somewhat brief. Introduced into the starting XI by Edwards around Christmas, Mane made an immediate impression and had fans on their feet in a campaign where excitement about the team was scarce. The tail-off in his form since those early, electrifying displays means the prospect of Wolves selling the academy graduate for huge money this summer has faded, but interest in him won’t vanish.
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The Portugal-born teenager spent time with the Bee Inspired Football Academy, which had close links to Manchester City, in his youth.
Wolves have never wanted to sell their best young player. That hasn’t changed. But there has always been a recognition that offers from certain clubs at a certain level could turn Mane’s head and force a tough decision at Molineux. That also hasn’t changed.
The Bueno boys, Santiago and Hugo, are the other Wolves players who have clearly enhanced their personal reputations during a horrible campaign for the club. In a struggling side, eight-time Uruguay international **Santiago Bueno** has found impressive consistency at the heart of the back three in the second half of the season. Wolves expect interest from Spain, where he played for Barcelona’s B team and Girona, and possibly from Premier League clubs who might want him to bolster their squad, especially if they use the three-at-the-back system that has mitigated some of the 27-year-old’s physical limitations.
Santiago Bueno could attract interest from Spain and in the Premier League (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Wolves hope he will stay but know he might be tempted by offers to remain at the highest level of club football, in England or elsewhere.
The same applies to his Spanish namesake, **Hugo Bueno**, who has shown his durability, athleticism, and crossing ability at left wing-back this season. Despite a few moments where his defensive instincts have been found lacking, the club anticipate interest from the Premier League and Europe in a 23-year-old who has proven himself low-maintenance and dependable.
Then there are players who have done little to enhance their reputations, but for whom Wolves will still try to generate a market. The easiest might be **David Moller Wolfe**, who has been unable to dislodge Hugo Bueno from the team but has generally performed well when called upon since his winter-window arrival in early February. That, combined with his solid form for AZ in the Netherlands and his status as a regular Norway international, should ensure interest.
That is less true of **Jackson Tchatchoua**, who has struggled badly on the opposite flank, but his transfer fee from Hellas Verona last summer was a relatively modest £11 million ($15m). That means his “book value” is now £8-9 million – a figure Wolves might just manage to extract from foreign suitors to avoid an accounting loss on the 24-year-old Belgian.
Jackson Tchatchoua has underwhelmed at Wolves (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Elsewhere on that flank, **Pedro Lima** and **Rodrigo Gomes** are talented players who, even accounting for youthful naivety that sometimes undermines their efforts, Wolves are likely to want to keep for next season in the Championship.
The same is not true for **Tolu Arokodare**, whose £24 million transfer fee from Genk last summer makes him pound-for-pound the worst of that window’s six new arrivals. The Nigerian’s “book value” is still around £18 million, and even though he was a reliable goalscorer in Belgium, there is no guarantee of a market at that price. Could Wolves recoup a loan fee for accounting purposes before selling the 25-year-old later, or might they have to keep him and hope his physical attributes are an asset in the second tier?
Tolu Arokodare apologises to the Wolves fans after missing a penalty against Crystal Palace (Paul Harding/Getty Images)
**Hwang Hee-chan** also seems likely to leave. After five years at Molineux and a dramatic loss of form in recent seasons, this feels like a natural time for a parting of the ways with the 30-year-old South Korea international forward. The £21 million offer they rejected from Marseille two summers ago won’t come again, though.
Wolves might also consider offers for central defender **Yerson Mosquera**. While the 25-year-old Colombian’s obvious talent and athleticism are popular at the club, his failure to curb his volatile temperament makes him a potential liability.
Yerson Mosquera is good enough to stay in the Premier League — if he cuts out the silly bookings
Wolves defender Mosquera picked up his 10th booking of the Premier League season in the thrashing by West Ham and will now miss two games
Even though Wolves are committed to signing Czech Republic captain **Ladislav Krejci** at the end of his season-long loan from Girona for a fee of £20 million, there is a general expectation that he will attract interest and is likely to move on. The 27-year-old centre-back has done well enough in his first Premier League campaign to draw interest from England and elsewhere in Europe, and a solid World Cup this summer could enhance his appeal.
**Sam Johnstone**, 33, has not shone in his two seasons at Wolves, but the relative shortage of goalkeeping vacancies means his departure cannot be guaranteed, while the club hope to keep **Jean-Ricner Bellegarde** but anticipate some interest, possibly from Ligue 1, where the 27-year-old Haiti international previously did well for Strasbourg.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (right) might attract some interest (Warren Little/Getty Images)
That brings us to the players who have always been regarded as certain to depart in the event of relegation this season. **Andre**, **Joao Gomes**, and **Jose Sa** have not enjoyed their greatest seasons, but the Brazilian midfield pair have enough class and pedigree to guarantee offers, while goalkeeper Sa is sufficiently experienced and has a high enough ceiling to interest clubs in England, his native Portugal, Europe, or even Saudi Arabia, where his agent Jorge Mendes has already found takers for multiple clients.
A departure from Molineux has seemed likely for the 33-year-old Sa in each of the past two summers. This time, it will surely happen.
Andre, 24, has the talent to thrive in a better Premier League team, but seems more likely to get regular starts in another European league before perhaps returning to England with his experience enhanced. Wolves could expect to receive as much as £30 million for a player who has admirers at Italian giants Juventus, which would represent a healthy profit on the £21 million they paid Fluminense for him two years ago.
Andre has suitors from Italy (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Then there is Gomes, one of very few Wolves players to have retained the affections of supporters during a depressing decline. Those fans will shed few tears at the departures of squad members seen as symptomatic of Wolves’ malaise. Gomes is the obvious exception, having rarely let his commitment and energy drop. But his loss is seemingly the most nailed-on of all mentioned here, and the supporters would not deny the 25-year-old midfielder the chance to further his career at a Champions League club, with **Atletico Madrid hopeful of completing a deal** that could bring Wolves in excess of £35 million.
For a club that has suffered a wretched campaign,
