Wolverhampton Wanderers are putting clubs like West Ham United to shame with their summer spending.
When the Hammers moved from their beloved Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium, co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold promised big ‘marquee’ signings.
In reality as one West Ham famously told a talkSPORT radio phone-in last season, ‘We got Simone Zaza and some scaffolding’.
Many supporters are sceptical over the intentions of Sullivan and Gold.
Indeed many believe their bluster about “£35m marquee striker signings” was a ploy to sell season tickets.
West Ham United owners David Gold and David Sullivan
If it was, it worked – or certainly helped – as West Ham have sold out more than 50,000 season tickets in their first two seasons at their new 60,000 seater London Stadium home, second only to Manchester United.
But co-owner Gold sparked fury among fans with comments over the club’s finances last week saying the club would somehow ‘have to find the money’ to bring players in.
So far only ageing defender Pablo Zabaleta has arrived, on a free transfer from Manchester City.
Finances at the club this summer dictate Slaven Bilic should have at least £100-150 million to play with, as reported by HITC.com previously.
Supporters are starting to lose patience with the owners which has been exacerbated by watching a number of other Premier League sides like Everton and even Bournemouth pushing the boat out to improve.
But the stark reality is that even a bottom half Championship side like Wolverhampton Wanderers is putting the Hammers to shame.
According to Sky Sports Wolves are close to breaking their transfer record with the signing of Portuguese international Ruben Neves from Porto for around £15m – that’s just £5m off West Ham’s all-time record outlay on Andre Ayew last year.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo
New Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been busy reshaping his squad for a promotion bid next season and is also said to be close to adding another Porto player to his ranks in defender Willy Boly.
If the deals go through, the Portuguese manager will have brought in six new players since taking charge last month, leaving him with a huge squad of 31 players, some of whom will be sold off to make space for more arrivals according to Sky Sports.
West Ham’s move to their new stadium was supposed to elevate them onto a new level enabling them to genuinely compete for the Premier League top six.
But with the likes of Wolves seriously out spending the East Londoners, things are threatening to go very much the other way.
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