Premier League Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers

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·14. August 2025

Premier League Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers

Last year’s finish: 16th
First match: Saturday, August 16 12:30am PT vs. Manchester City
Where they’ll be after five: 6 pts. with 1W, 3D, 1L

Transfer News

Wolves have made bank, that is undeniable. With a pair of Manchester sales (Matheus Cuhna to United and Rayan Aît Nouri to City) early in the window, Wolves pocketed a cool $127M. Those will be missed, but they’ve been putting the largesse to work on bringing in more young talent.

Celta Vigo is like a Wolverhampton smorgasbørd. The club made permanent the loan of Jørgen Strand Larsen, who generated 14g/5a last season. They also poached attacking midfielder Fer López. But perhaps the most significant grab was Jhon Arias from Fluminense. Arias was a wizard for the Brazilian side during the Club World Cup, and $20.4M is some clever business. Watch his value skyrocket over the next year or two.

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Season Outlook

Well, it certainly wasn’t a pretty pre-season. Wolves lost four and drew two in the campaign. Ultimately, the club needs to not repeat the pattern of last season, where they failed to win in their opening ten games, and needed a second half exceptional run of form to claw their way into safety. Perhaps such a poor start is a good thing?

Wolverhampton kick off the 2025-26 season hosting Manchester City, never an easy assignment. At least they’ll be at home, and I imagine there will be a fair bit of “Northern cheer” directed at Aît Nouri. Their next four fixtures are: Bournemouth (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A), and Leeds (H). The last one will be their first win, though there will be plenty of draws.

Key Players

Forward The spotlight is on Strand Larsen. They need him to have at least as good a campaign as last year. Hee-Chan Hwang missed too many games due to injury. When he’s on form, few can poach a goal better. Portuguese striker Fábio Silva just returned from loan with Las Palmas, where he bagged 10g/2a.
Midfield Jhon Arias. Just how quickly can he adapt to the PL pace and physicality? He’s got the capacity to change games. He won’t be a like-for-like replacement for Cunha, but it’s not a bad one. Frankly, the rest of the midfield is somewhat meh. André holds the ball fine, but there’s no attacking danger from him. Wolves will need more that 4g/2a from João Gomes this season. Marshall Munetsi, a mid-season transfer from Reims, only mustered minimal time due to injury.
Defense Norwegian wing-back David Møller Wolfe was brought in from AZ Alkmaar to replace Aït Nouri and will have big shoes to fill. Veteran Matt Doherty (33) will be the bedrock on which the the defensive line rests. Toti Gomes and Emmanuel Agbadou both suffered from injury last season, hopefully they can remain fit to grant some stability.
Goalkeeper José Sá is ostensibly the #1, but perennial backup Sam Johnstone will be waiting to fill in when the mercurial Sá slips up.

Other Bits

It cannot be overstated the impact manager Vitor Pereira has had on Wolverhampton. He turned the club around and guided them out of the relegation zone (with five games to spare). He’s also endeared himself to supporters by meeting them in local pubs for a pint. That’s real class.