Wolves start the weekend holding a 10 point lead at the top. They have no pressure to go into the weekend to win at any cost with the next side Derby County stuck at 52 points. The expensively assembled Wolves side is are now being linked with names of great stature in this January window as they are expected to qualify for the riches of the English Premier League come May 2018. With the Championship trophy expected to head their way, Wolves are busy in the market with their owners ready to splash the cash to bring in quality players to their squad.
They have now been linked with West Ham United defender Jose Fonte. The Portuguese have been deprived of regular game time at West Ham owing to the competition amongst Angelo Ogbonna, James Collins and Winston Reid at the London stadium.
The former Southampton player was a part of the Portuguese team that won the Euro 2016 and it is the connection to their motherland that could see the Wolves manager convince Fonte to join the Championship leaders.
Their manager Nuno Espirito Santo is determined to add quality to his squad this January although he has hinted caution as to buying only the right crop of players for his squad. “We are very clear, we know exactly what we have to do,” Nuno had said last month, prior to the acquisition of Rafa Mir.
“We know which way we have to go and the decisions we’re going to make will be made with a lot of thinking time, a lot of consideration and a lot of dialogue knowing that we still have a long way to go, and we cannot make any kind of mistakes.”
“When I say that, to come to the squad of Wolves in this moment he has to be something that gives us an increase of quality and different characteristics that we don’t have.”
Although they can continue to buy players next season as well after qualifying for the English Premier League, one legal loophole which the Wolves side will be keen to take advantage of is the absence of the Financial Fair Play rules in the Championships. It means they can buy any player they want now without having to worry about their balancing their books, something they will not find easy if they qualify for England’s premier league competition next season, especially given the teams they will be competing against. It is this essential factor that makes this January transfer window absolutely crucial for Wolves.
