The Players Wolves Should Look to Sell This Summer
Wolves were undoubtedly one of the Premier League's big successes last season. A seventh place finish and a decent run in the Europa League left fans very satisfied with their sides' work for the year and for what lies ahead for the club.
However, success in England's top division is hard to maintain and in order to remain competitive, the club will have to freshen their squad up wisely this summer. Their top players - the likes of Adama Traore, Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves - will surely be on the list to keep but persuading them to stay for the foreseeable will not be easy.
Wolves must convince them that the project is worth staying for. The first step in doing that is selling surplus deadwood to help raise a small amount of money that can be reinvested in new talent.
So then, let's take a look at who should be out the door.
1. Matt Doherty
Let's kick off with an easy one.
The deal between Wolves and Spurs for Doherty is very close to completion for a fee in the region of £15m. While it might seem lazy to include Doherty in this list, you have to remember that as of now, he still is a Wolves player - everyone knows that transfer's are never completed until the contract is actually signed.
Sure, he's leaving, but he hasn't left yet.
Potential Destination: Tottenham.
Potential Fee: £15m.
2. John Ruddy
It might seem harsh to include Ruddy in this list as he is a model professional and a reliable number two. But the reality is that Wolves do not need two ageing goalkeepers on their books.
Most will agree that Rui Patricio is the far better of the two and is unlikely to ever lose his number one spot to Ruddy. His back up should be someone who Wolves trust to challenge Patricio for the number one spot. Surely it would be better to have a younger goalkeeper ready to step in than an ageing John Ruddy.
Potential Destination: Lower Premier League or any Championship club.
Potential Fee: £2m.
3. Roderick Miranda
Yes, he's still at the club.
Wolves have had a seriously hard time of it trying to get rid of Miranda, having loaned him out more than once - to Greek side Olympiacos and then to Portugal's Famalicão. With his contract expiring next year anyway, it would be best for Wolves to have lower any asking fee to help move him on for some money, even if it is not much.
After all, something is better than nothing.
Potential Destination: Portugal.
Potential Fee: £800k.
4. Leo Bonatini
Bonatini hit the ground running at Wolves when on loan from Al Hilal in 2017. His goals helped the side to promotion and encouraged the board to make his loan permanent. But he's found the step up to the Premier League difficult.
He fell behind Raul Jimenez in the pecking order at the club and was loaned out to Nottingham Forest in 2019, but even struggled for gametime at the City Ground. Like Miranda, he has since been again loaned out to a Portugal but this time for Vitória S.C.
Though he has declined and is certainly deadwood, at 26 he could still demand a small fee.
Potential Destination: Championship or Portugal.
Potential Fee: £2m-3m.
5. Roman Saiss
There is no better way than with some controversy.
There will be some Wolves fans who totally disagree which is understandable considering some of his performances, but hear us out.
With only one year left on his deal and now aged 30, Saiss might look to move away from Wolves for a new challenge next summer anyways. There is no point risking losing him for free next summer when you can demand a decent fee for the Moroccan right now.
Yes he is popular among the Wolves faithful and is definitely a useful player but he is no superstar. Cashing in could be shrewd business and could merit a healthy profit considering he was bought for just £3m in 2016.
Potential Destination: Anywhere in Europe.
Potential Fee: £8m-10m.