A summer of uncertainty at Molineux means punters should seriously consider Wolves relegation odds as a long-term investment for next season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers may have stayed up in the Premier League with something to spare this term after being bottom at Christmas, but their prospects may not look so rosy for the new campaign when it comes. The West Midlands outfit were the lowest scorers, netting just 31 times in the season just completed and failed to get a goal in 15 games.
Couple this with Financial Fair Play breathing down their necks and the need to sell players to balance the books, and Wolves relegation odds of 11/2 with bet365 do look generous. There are worse sides than Julen Lopetegui’s team. according to the Premier League betting next term, but a closer look at who’s out of contract at Molineux is cause for concern.
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Potential Neves Sale & Other Departures Will Impact Price
Musclebound winger Adam Traore joins veteran midfielder Joao Moutinho and Brazil-born ex-Spain striker Diego Costa as currently leaving when their deals expire at the end of June. There are then some difficult decisions for those holding the purse strings to make about players who enter the final year of their current contracts.
These names include this season’s joint-top scorers Daniel Podence and captain Ruben Neves, plus Mexico frontman Raul Jimenez. While the latter has yet to recapture the fine form he showed prior to a career-threatening head injury, Wanderers could soon have their attacking options gutted if all are sold.
At this stage, an entire year out from the end of next term, where are the goals coming from? Portugal pair Podence and Neves netted just six apiece, yet the latter in particular seems destined to leave Molineux in the transfer market with the view that high-profile suitors will get him looking inevitable given the financial straits. That only adds to the appeal of a punt on Wolves relegation odds.
Choices must be made about Wolves defensive duo Jonny Otto and Rayan Ait-Nouri. Both are saleable assets, but cashing in on them obviously leaves the rear-guard weakened. Wanderers kept just 11 Premier League clean sheets this past season, so there’s room for improvement.
Take these players out of their squad, and there’s no way that Wolves relegation odds can be 11/2 without the funds to replace them. When fellow Midlands club Leicester City found themselves working within similar strictures from FFP, the result was catastrophic and ended in the former Premier League champions going down to the Championship in ignominy.
Lopetegui Leaving Could Also Influence Wolves Relegation Odds
Despite no experience of English football, Lopetegui took Wanderers from propping up the table at Christmas and bucked the trend by keeping them up. The Spaniard won just over a third, 10 of 27, of his matches as the club surpassed the magic 40-point barrier that guarantees safety. Wolves still lost half of their Premier League games, though, including away drubbings by Brighton and Arsenal.
While respective 6-0 and 5-0 beatings during the run-in didn’t matter in terms of their determining their fate, it shows that decent sides can dismantle them. Wanderers secured an ambitious manager in Lopetegui, but how do they match his appetite for success and desire to kick on now? Leicester serve as a cautionary tale that if you stand still, you end up going backwards.
Wolves relegation odds are nothing like as likely as newly-promoted Championship Play-Off final winners Luton Town or a resurgent Sheffield United and Burnley, but they do need look around them and survey the wider picture. Plenty of teams are on the hunt for a new manager this summer.
Chelsea have appointed Mauricio Pochettino to revive their fortunes, while fellow London clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace seek fresh faces in the dugout. Lopetegui won’t want Wanderers lost in the shuffle as new bosses receive backing in their posts elsewhere. If he doesn’t get the support he needs, then who could blame him for quitting Molineux?
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