Wolves needed to be busy in the transfer market having sold Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri to Manchester United and Manchester City respectively. The duo left for a combined total of just over £90m in June’s early window, giving the club time and money to start a squad rebuild. It was accepted by all that it was time for Cunha to leave and his £62.5m release clause rendered Wolves powerless but he has left an undeniable gap. Cunha scored 17 of Wolves’ 63 goals in all competitions last season – 26.98% – with Strand Larsen’s 14 accounting for 22%. Strand Larsen, whose new deal comes after Newcastle’s summer bids, scored twice in the EFL Cup against West Ham but is yet to find the net in the league.Hampered by an Achilles injury which has sidelined him for two games, he came on for the second half against Leeds.”We are in a really tough spot right now,” said the striker. “I am really disappointed in all of us. Nobody wants to be in this situation but nobody else can complain about it, only ourselves.”It kills us, and it kills the people who want to come into the game, too. It’s about the mentality of the players and we need to do better.”Without Strand Larsen, Wolves netted twice against Everton and in the first half against Leeds, but they have failed to score in their three of their five league matches.Overall, Pereira has lost the source of just over half of last season’s goals since the start of last season and it appears they are yet to be replaced. Striker Tolu Arokodare arrived for £23m from Genk and attacker Fer Lopez joined from Celta Vigo for £20m but both need time. Defenders David Moller Wolfe and Jackson Tchatchoua also joined in the summer while, although a collective decision, Pereira pushed for Jhon Arias having seen him extensively in Brazil, with the winger signing from Fluminense for an initial £15m. The strategy focused on overseas players, it was not necessarily deliberate but it was felt the value is outside the Premier League, where fees are high. The foreign market has been a well-trodden path for Wolves, with varying degrees of success, Pedro Neto, Ruben Neves, Ait-Nouri and Cunha being some of their biggest triumphs. Internally, though, it is recognised there is a lot for the new recruits to prove and there is an acceptance some could have been brought in earlier to help them adapt to Pereira’s methods. They will be given time but sources have conceded the order in which they arrived could have been better, targeting priority positions sooner to help the settling-in process and therefore improving performances. Character-wise, they have fitted in with the group, and only Arias needing to learn the language, but Wolves maxed out their overseas quota and there will be a focus on homegrown talent in the future. The need for experience is key too as, of the five players with the most minutes last season, three – Ait-Nouri, Cunha and Nelson Semedo – have left with the latter the fourth captain the club has lost in successive summers. Pereira did not get the extra midfielder he craved either. Ex-Burnley captain Josh Brownhill was mentioned before he joined Al Shabab on a free transfer but he was not the preferred profile for the Wolves manager, who wanted a number six.
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Calm at Wolves despite five straight league defeats
