As Fosun have discovered, a kid in a candy shop approach to transfers leads to a lot of wasted money.
“There’s more people than in Ben Hur! And there were thousands in that movie. You need an abacus to count how many we’ve got. It’s something we have to look at.”
Paul Lambert was hardly subtle about his desire to trim the fat from his bloated Wolves squad when talking to the Express and Star recently.
In hindsight, a quantity over quality approach to transfers in the summer was hardly the best way for new owners, Fosun International, to build the foundations of a promotion push.
And, with the New Year just a few weeks away, a new, lightweight Wolves is the resolution. But who is in danger of the chop?
Silvio
Not many players have made the move from Atletico Madrid to Wolves in recent years, so the fans could be forgiven for believing they’d pulled off quite the coup when Silvio, who spent the last two seasons with Champions League regulars Benfica, arrived at Molineux in the summer.
Yet, the eight-time Portugal international is yet to make a single appearance since October despite the fact Paul Lambert has publicly lamented the inexperience of his first-choice defenders. The writing is well and truly on the wall.
Jed Wallace
If Steve Bruce believes he has too many strikers at Villa, spare a thought for Lambert at Wolves. With six wideman in his first-team squad, plus James Henry on loan at Bolton Wanderers, the former Blackburn boss needs to clip the wings in January.
And former Portsmouth starlet Wallace, who has found the step up from League Two to the Championship a bit too steep, has done little in his five starts this season to suggest he can survive the winter.
Paul Gladon
That Gladon remains situated on the sidelines despite the ongoing goal droughts for Ivan Cavaleiro and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, not to mention Nouha Dicko’s fitness concerns, says it all. Six goals in 27 appearances for mid-table Heracles in the Eredivisie, a league where Matija Kezman looked a world beater, should have raised the alarms sooner.
Joao Teixeira
At one point should you stop using a player’s ‘potential’ as a defence for a lack of output? At 22, Teixera is surely nearing the cut-off point. As if a grand total of five appearances on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes on loan from Benfica wasn’t enough of a concern, the Portuguese Under-21 international has slipped out of the slide after a promising start to his temporary spell at Molineux.
It’s not unreasonable to suggest Paul Lambert could decide to cut his loan short in January.
Ola John
Like Silvio, John has done little to justify his reputation at Molineux. A one-time Netherlands international linked with every big club in the land during his formative years with FC Twente and Benfica, the 24-year-old’s stock has plummeted in recent years.
If his 28 game, four goal spell at Reading was disappointing, his 2016/17 has been disastrous.
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