Wolves comment: Decisions to be made after Kevin Thelwell's departure

But fewer than 72 hours later, on Monday afternoon, the club announced the shock exit of sporting director – and board member – Kevin Thelwell.

After serving in a variety of roles at Molineux for the best part of 12 years, he is leaving to take up a similar role across the pond at New York Red Bulls.

First of all, it is an exciting opportunity for Thelwell, who has also been both Wolves' academy manager and head of football development.

He will move over with his family to the States to become head of sport with the MLS franchise – living and working in New York – insisting that the opportunity was too 'special' to ignore. And he should prove to be a success there.

Given the timing of the announcement – a few days after the transfer window shut – some supporters have suggested it could be something more than him just leaving for pastures new.

But, make no mistake, Thelwell was – and still is – very highly-regarded by chairman Jeff Shi and owners Fosun.

Nobody lasts almost 12 years at one place without being highly-skilled and well-respected – especially in such a cut-throat field. He was promoted to the board of directors last August, too.

His CV is top-drawer, and everyone at the club will genuinely be wishing him all the best over in America.

Now, Wolves must figure out how to go about replacing Thelwell.

For the short term, Shi will assume his responsibilities.

The chairman, though, did something similar when Laurie Dalrymple left his role as the club's managing director last summer.

So, while Russell Jones – marketing manager – has helped fill the Dalrymple void along with Shi, a restructure must be happening in the coming months.

Quite how that will shake up is unclear at the moment, it must be said.

Jones is understood to have impressed club higher-ups, while Shi has shown his dedication to the cause since Fosun's takeover back in 2016.

Ultimately, though, Wolves have lost two key members of the hierarchy in less than a year.

And as the club achieves great success on the field – establishing themselves as an impressive Premier League team while managing significant runs in the Europa League and FA Cup – the onus is on ensuring they do not leave themselves short-changed off the pitch.

Currently, or at least when Thelwell officially leaves at the end of this month, Shi and Jones each appear to be doing the jobs of two people.

Wolves are not appointing a successor to Thelwell imminently. After all, taking on people in such prestigious positions takes time.

But if it is a promotion for someone from within, such as Jones or head of recruitment John Marshall, and then taking on a fresh face for another role, or straight bringing in a sporting director from elsewhere, you feel something has to happen before the next window starts.

Every club seems to have a sporting director or a person of a similar title these days, too.

Dan Ashworth, formerly of Albion – who now have Luke Dowling in the role – is with Brighton, for example.

Raul Sanllehi is at Arsenal, former Wolves striker Dougie Freedman at Crystal Palace and Txiki Begiristain at Manchester City.

Sanllehi, who used to be at Barcelona, is from a business and marketing background as well, so there is nothing to say that Jones could not become sporting director down the line. Coaching or playing experience is not essential.

But the ability to pick out potential signings, negotiate contracts and oversee all the footballing matters within the club is.

Thelwell carried out all those aspects of the job to an excellent standard, despite being the fall guy for some fans when things have not gone as they would have liked.

He was the great survivor of the Fosun era. As the landscape around him changed so dramatically, Thelwell adapted, impressed and improved his standing.

He will not be easily replaced, but Shi has vowed 'to build an even stronger team' and 'make sure we are as efficient as we can be, and built for future success'. Let's see how these next few months go.