A new way of recruiting
Wolves want to be more considered in the market. The signings in January 2023, with the club having been bottom at Christmas, saw them correct course. “The difficulty comes when we do what we did in summer ’22, very high-wage players, high transfer fees.”
The expensive acquisition of Goncalo Guedes did not work out. Bruno Lage was sacked by October. “Then you swap managers which is a problem because you build a squad for one manager which he believes in and then another comes and you have to rebuild.”
Hobbs’ background is in this space – he was Wolves’ chief scout and head of player recruitment before his appointment as sporting director. There is a hint of regret at some of the business that was done before he was given his wider brief in November 2022.
“We did a lot of work on a lot of players that would have fitted and we would not be in this situation that we are now but we did not have the final say on anything then.”
Hobbs went to Argentina in an attempt to acquire Enzo Fernandez from River Plate in the window before he ended up going to Chelsea for over £100m. “It would have been the right price-point, so there are players out there.”
So, what is the new vision for a Wolves signing?
He talks of being “an underdog” and “a disruptor” – trying to find another Max Kilman, who was signed from Maidenhead for £40,000. “I like finding Max. We find Joao [Gomes] before anyone else does it and that actually excites me more than spending £40m on a player.”
Joao Gomes cost £12m from Flamengo, Pedro Neto was a similar fee when he arrived. “At Lazio he could barely get a kick.” Rayan Ait-Nouri arrived from Angers for £10m, a bargain now. And how about just £5,000 for young Spanish left-back Hugo Bueno?
“You are not going to get many Hugos and Maxs, I understand that, but Rayan, Pedro, Joao, that is the perfect age and ability. When you do it at that level, the ones you get wrong are way less detrimental to everything than if a £30m signing does not work.”
He talks of Brighton being a blueprint given their success. But it is mainly about having a clear idea.
“Everything comes back to the strategy. Stick to that. Do not get carried away, like it would be easy to do now,” he explains. “This is who we are, these are the type of transfer fees that we are going to spend, these are the kind of markets we are going to look in.”
The Joao Gomes example
Brighton’s success buying from South American has become a template for others but Wolves can point to their own example from the continent in young Brazilian midfielder Joao Gomes. He has been a revelation at Molineux with his tough-tackling approach.
The player captured the imagination even before his arrival, the delay in his deal leading to a ‘Free Joao Gomes’ campaign among fans. “They buy into Joao Gomes. Obviously, the story helped with them not letting him come and the whole thing built up.”
But it is about more than that, argues Hobbs. More even than the potential of any particular market. “For me, it is about trying to get them to buy into the type of team that we are creating and get behind it that way and for us to constantly be looking to overachieve.
“It is the type of player that he is, celebrating tackles. He did that back in Brazil, with random tackles that really don’t need a celebration but he does it. The fans see that and they like it and that is why they buy into it and that is why we do so much work on personality.
“It has to fit this club.”
There is a feeling that Wolves moved too far away from that natural fit.
This season, no player in the Premier League wins – and keeps – the ball more than Mario Lemina as a result of tackles. Joao Gomes is not far behind.
“Most of our fans are grafters who are out working,” says Hobbs. “They want to see the players doing that on the pitch, which I do not think they saw at the end under Bruno, which is how it became misaligned. Julen brought it back a little bit.”
O’Neil has embraced it fully. “You have to put a team on the pitch that they can see themselves in,” adds Hobbs. “I think we probably did not have that for a period of time but I think they can see it in this group. They will moan sometimes but they will get behind it.”
Source : Sky Sports
