Matt Maher: Questions of Wolves recruitment after lowest Prem spend

Barely 24 hours after its release came the completion of a summer transfer window where the club had their lowest spend since the summer of 2016, their first under Fosun.

Without the Chinese conglomerate’s backing, of course, Wolves would have been nowhere near Fifa’s list. Without their investment, it is quite possible they would be nowhere near the Premier League.

Yet the heavy spending of the early years under Fosun has been replaced by more measured, strategic growth and a push for self-sustainability. Of that, this window was the clearest evidence yet.

Supporters were warned early to expect a tricky summer, where Wolves would likely need to get ‘creative’ with patience a key virtue. Even so, they could not expected it to end with the club trying – and failing – to strike a deal for a 29-year-old striker who has never played in the top flight.

By the time Tuesday’s 11pm deadline arrived, Wolves had recruited five players over the course of the summer and dispensed with six (both permanently and on loan) for a modest profit of around £6million.

Most significantly, they had retained the services of Adama Traore and Ruben Neves, two players whose sales earlier in the summer might have generated funds to strengthen elsewhere but by the end of it felt more crucial to the cause than ever before.

Their business as a whole could not be described as a disaster. It takes time before the success or otherwise of a transfer window can be properly judged. Perhaps a few months from now Francisco Trincao will be hailed a talent the equal of Pedro Neto. The likes of Hwang Hee-chan and Yerson Mosquera could prove to be inspired signings.

But the immediate sense is this was not a window which saw Wolves’ squad refreshed to the extent required and there is a feeling new boss Bruno Lage has not been sufficiently backed.

The inability to strengthen midfield, identified as a priority at the start of the summer, feels rather careless. Failing to add a defender may prove more costly come January when both Romain Saiss and Willy Boly are due to be away at the African Cup of Nations.

Of course, transfer windows do not occur in isolation. As Wolves were scrabbling to set-up last-ditch deals on Tuesday, it was difficult not to think back 12 months to when funds generated from the sales of Diogo Jota and Matt Doherty were spent on Fabio Silva and Nelson Semedo.

Both may yet prove excellent investments but with resources so obviously tight, the logic of spending £60m on a teenage prospect and a full-back who has not hit the same heights of his predecessor is increasingly questionable.

One man, of course, did rather well out of both deals. When it comes to Wolves and the transfer market, Jorge Mendes remains a major figure and it has never felt more pertinent to ponder the balance of the club’s relationship with the super agent.

There is no disputing it has allowed Wolves access to players who would otherwise have been out of reach. Trincao, the big name signing of this summer, could well prove an excellent acquisition.

The bigger question may be the efficiency of the club’s recruitment department when it can’t call on Mendes for assistance? At the start of the summer, chairman Jeff Shi compared the link-up with Mendes’ Gestifute agency to having first-class plane tickets. Yet it was no huge help on Tuesday, when they were trying to get Kieffer Moore out of Cardiff.

The good news, deadline day frustrations aside, is the first XI remains strong.

The concern remains the lack of depth, with Lage having made no secret of his desire for quality reinforcements in the final weeks of the window.

Though results have not shown it, the new head coach has impressed with his ability to get players who appeared so inhibited in the final year under Nuno Espirito Santo playing a more open, attractive style. Yet whether he is able to implement his plans fully, owing to the lack of recruits, is now open to question.

Those fixtures immediately after the international break now feel that bit bigger still, not particularly for Lage but Fosun and the club’s recruitment department, after a summer window which might best be termed underwhelming.