Wolves have spent close to £200 million this season, bringing in 12 new players, but their best signing is in the technical area.
Julen Lopetegui is now close to ‘Mission Completed’ on his survival mission and has performed one of the most impressive jobs of the season which will go under the radar.
After inheriting a club in November which was losing its identity, Lopetegui has transformed results and the mood to ensure Wolves will go into next season with increased optimism about the future.
Wolves are set to become only the fourth Premier League team bottom at Christmas to survive.
While Lopetegui is refusing to get carried away, it will take a remarkable sequence of results to suck them back into the relegation swamp.
Other managers such as Mikel Arteta, Eddie Howe, Unai Emery and Roberto De Zerbi will stand a far better chance of winning Manager of the Year, but Lopetegui’s impact cannot be overestimated.
When he was appointed, Wolves had failed to score in eight out of their 15 league games – by far the worst return in the division.
Under Bruno Lage, the club appeared to be sleepwalking towards relegation amid fears that many of the players could not respond to his methods.
Lopetegui, however, has emphatically delivered and rewarded the six-year pursuit of club owners Fosun. After Tuesday’s win over Crystal Palace, he has secured 27 points from 18 matches to move nine points clear of the bottom three.
While Wolves have lacked the effervescence and excitement of the best days under Nuno Espirito Santo, Lopetegui has built an effective, solid team capable of grinding out results.
The outside perception of Wolves is perhaps that their squad was too good to go down, but the statistics and data before Lopetegui only pointed towards relegation.
Confidence was very low and there were doubts that the squad possessed the fighting spirit to pull themselves clear.
November 5 now feels like a pivotal moment. It instantly became clear a few days after Lopetegui arrived that everyone, from players and staff, would be aligned.
He has instilled a culture and environment that demands constant improvement and high standards. Regular working days for the Spaniard and his staff run from 8am to 8pm at the training ground.
Most managers who are appointed mid-season are unhappy with player fitness and Lopetegui focused on it as a priority. In his first five games, statistics revealed that Wolves had covered more distance than at any stage under Lage this season. A basic requirement, but absolutely necessary.
There are also collaborative partnerships off the field, which has not always been the case under previous managers based at Compton. Lopetegui works closely with sporting director Matt Hobbs and Wolves’ work in the January transfer window now appears to have been crucial. Their transfer strategy was to target three choices for each position, and experience of the league was regarded as highly important. Wolves’ best winter signing has been Mario Lemina, the former Fulham and Southampton midfielder who was pinched from Nice for a fee of £9.5 million.
Craig Dawson, the vastly experienced defender, was recommended by Wolves’ recruitment team but Lopetegui was already aware of him after Sevilla’s Europa League tie against West Ham last season. Other January arrivals including Joao Gomes and Pablo Sarabia have played their parts, while Diego Costa’s improvement in recent months cannot be ignored.
Lopetegui has also proven that he has no time for underperformance or past reputations. Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nouri have not even made the bench in recent weeks. The challenge from Lopetegui is always to respond in training and prove him wrong, but their absence tells its own story.
Goncalo Guedes, a £27.5 million purchase from Valencia in August, failed to impress with performance and attitude and was swiftly booted out to Benfica on loan. He is unlikely to return.
Wolves are already preparing for another busy summer, with their Premier League status now all but assured. They view changes to the squad as a natural evolution. Ruben Neves is likely to emerge as a target for clubs across Europe and, reluctantly, Wolves will not stand in his way if an offer of around £40 million is received.
A number of players out of contract including Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore and Costa are expected to leave, while Jimenez and Ait-Nouri could be sold. Nelson Semedo, the former Barcelona defender, has a two-year option on his contract which must be triggered next month. At this stage, it is understood that he will stay.
Wolves are excited about the prospect of what next season may hold, with players including Matheus Cunha and Matheus Nunes likely to benefit from a period of adaptation. Sasa Kaladjzic, the Austrian striker who sustained a cruciate ligament injury on his debut in September, is also regarded as a key player for next season.
Under Lopetegui, the future appears bright. There is a sense that now this difficult season is almost out of the way, the proper planning for better times ahead can begin.
Wolves fans have chanted for months that under their ‘super’ manager the club will stay in the Premier League, and they have been proven right. He knows exactly what they need.