Premier League 2023-24 preview No 20: Wolves

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 18th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 13th

Prospects

The close-season quickly spiralled into what-might-have-been territory for Wolves but supporters head into what has the makings of a testing campaign with more questions than answers. Why did the club allow an unhappy marriage to fester? Could they have pacified Julen Lopetegui? Could they really not add to his squad? How was Gary O’Neil deemed the best candidate to replace him?

A relatively barren summer threatens to undermine any hopes of progress and given the financial limbo the sobering truth is another mid-table finish would be an impressive feat. The past few months provided an opportunity to reset but the concern is a flurry of high-profile departures have not been replaced, let alone adequately. Matt Doherty is their only outfield signing and incomings are unlikely unless they raise more cash. Strangled by financial fair play constraints, Wolves lost out in the race for Bristol City’s Alex Scott, who has joined Bournemouth, and failed to move for Nico Elvedi and Aaron Cresswell.

Related: Wolves courted Lopetegui for years and lost him after months. How it went sour | Ben Fisher

One of O’Neil’s first jobs is to remedy Wolves’ poor away form – they won twice on the road last season – and improve on a league-low 31 goals last season. Rúben Neves, João Moutinho, Adama Traoré and Raúl Jiménez have departed. Daniel Podence, their joint-top scorer the past two seasons, could follow. The exodus may have lightened the financial load but the exits of Conor Coady and Nathan Collins leave them short in defence. Max Kilman, who played more minutes than any other Wolves player last season, is set to be named captain.

In June the sporting director, Matt Hobbs, acknowledged Wolves’ best buys in recent years have been those that have been low risk. Kilman, for whom Wolves paid Maidenhead £40,000, is a shining example. January signings Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina fall into that bracket but misses in the market have proven costly. Wolves face a fight to stand still. The worry is: have they been left behind?

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The manager

There is a touch of deja vu about Gary O’Neil’s arrival at Wolves. Last August O’Neil was given the unenviable task of lifting Bournemouth in the aftermath of a 9-0 defeat at Anfield after being promoted to the top job and he has another difficult challenge on his hands at Wolves. A keen golfer, O’Neil inherits a team in the rough. The 40-year-old former Portsmouth and Middlesbrough midfielder was on holiday in Portugal when Lopetegui agreed to part ways with Wolves on Tuesday and took charge of his first training session on Thursday, five days before their opener at Old Trafford. O’Neil began his coaching career in Liverpool’s academy before initially joining Bournemouth as first-team coach in February 2021. He will be assisted by the former Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun Derry.

Leading the shirt sales

Player turnover dictates there are few players left at Molineux with oodles of credit in the bank. João Gomes is something of a cult hero after Wolves’ lengthy public pursuit of the midfielder eventually came to fruition in January. Flamengo reneged on their initial agreement with Wolves in order to negotiate a more lucrative deal with Lyon – but Wolves eventually got their man. Wolves commissioned “Free João Gomes” T-shirts and stickers – and the fans’ social media campaign to #FreeJoaoGomes went viral. “It was one of the things that made me stop and reflect on what I wanted to do,” he said upon signing. “It weighed heavy when making my final decision.” Still, there is scope for someone else to make themselves a Wolves favourite this season.

Folk hero

The summer return of Matt Doherty on a free continues one of Wolves’ best scouting success stories. Doherty joined Wolves as an 18-year-old from Dublin side Bohemians for £75,000 in 2010 – while he was working as a carpet cleaner – after impressing then manager Mick McCarthy in a friendly. It is fair to say he proved value for money across a decade-long first stint, his winner against Manchester City at Molineux in 2019 the standout memory. These days the full-back is represented by Jorge Mendes, the agent who works closely with Wolves and was behind Doherty’s eye-catching moves to Tottenham and Atlético Madrid.

One to watch

It feels like a significant season for Joe Hodge, the 20-year-old who made his Premier League debut against Chelsea last October. High-profile exits mean the midfielder, who joined Wolves’ development squad from Manchester City two years ago, has a chance to make a splash. Hodge has impressed with his attitude but a loan move to enhance his development remains a possibility. Capped by the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level, he plans to kick on for club and country. Another Irish youth international, 18-year-old striker Nathan Fraser, who joined aged seven, impressed in pre-season.