Hey, Wolves fan here. I've occasionally been reading your forum from time to time since Nuno was linked with moving to you earlier this season and have seen some posts regarding us in the Summer 2018 Transfer Window thread. I've not made this post to be a nuisance like that one Wolves fan who kept on commenting on the thread about Nuno saying he was too good for you and whatnot, but more to give you an insight about us and Fosun etc.
If you want to read then you can but by all means, you don't have to hahah.
So, as you likely already know we're owned by Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate. Nuno has come in this year and revolutionised the way we play and has brought some great players with him, and to be honest with you at times I still have to pinch myself to make sure that what is happening is all real. Next year the Premier League is going to be a challenge. We are going to need to strengthen and personally, I believe we will finish roughly around 12th.
Mendes
Onto the controversial topic of Mendes. Many championship clubs have been quite bitter about how we've managed to get players like Neves and Jota, with the Leeds Chairman actually tweeting after we beat them 3-0 away from home this season that what we are doing is unfair and is illegal. Also, both Leeds and Aston Villa have complained to the EFL about our relations with Mendes. This was looked into and investigated by the EFL a few weeks ago and we're clean.
While it is the case that Jota and Neves have come to Wolves because of Mendes, it's not because Mendes has just forced them to move or told them to pack their bags because they're leaving Portugal for sunny Wolverhampton. The case is that because he knows our owners and the ambitious project that they have, he has advised players like Neves, Jota, Costa, Cavaleiro etc, that moving to Wolves would be a good career move. Many questioned whether it was the right decision for Neves to come to Wolves, but as this season has panned out it's become clear that it's worked out for him, with the large interest he has gained from some of the big clubs.
This interest can be shown through the recent rumours of Neves moving to Liverpool. I must say they've gotten quite obsessed over him ahaha, I've even seen a picture of Neves edited into the new Liverpool kit lol. Personally, while I believe Neves will leave Wolves by the end of next season (he really is too good for us), I don't believe that he will be sold this summer, for any price. The ambition that our owners have means that players like Neves and Jota will likely be used to show potential new signings that coming to Wolves would be a good career move, Mendes was even seen at Molineux recording the pre match buildup and then also the players lifting the trophy on his phone for the game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Regarding the signings we could be making this summer, it's anyone's guess really. The fact that we've gone from signing an unfit Grant Holt on loan two seasons ago to getting Jota puts me in dreamland as it is. Since January we've been linked to André Silva from AC Milan quite frequently and yesterday Di Marzio posted an article saying we could be in for Rui Patricio as well as Silva this summer, which would be insane considering last season we had Andy Lonergan in goal for part of the season. All these players would cost a fair chunk of money, which may be seen as a lot for a newly promoted team, which brings up the question of FFP.
FFP - (this is from a post on the MolineuxMix forum)
"Wolves and Fosun have pushed the limits of The Championship FFP regulations, with latest accounts revealing that we have spent as much as we can without breaching the £39m rolling 3 season losses.
1st Assumption!! That we do exactly the same next year and push the limits in The Premier League to spend as much as possible.
FFP Background
FFP was introduced by UEFA 7 years ago to stop clubs involved in European competitions from spending more than they earn (in short, to stop up and coming European teams from competing with their established names that generate them more revenue).
So as we are not in The Champion's League or The Europa League next season, we can ignore UEFA's FFP regulations.
The only FFP regulations we need to pay any attention to next season are The Premier League's rules, which are far less stringent than UEFA's.
The Premier League FFP rules can be broken down as follows: Profit & Sustainability Rules Short Term Cost Control (STCC) Regulations Profit & Sustainability Rules
Simply put, these rules stop clubs operating well beyond their means by recording persistent losses (see Leeds and Portsmouth).
By 1st March every year, clubs need to submit projected accounts for the current season demonstrating that their rolling losses over 3 seasons is no more than £105m (providing the owners inject equity, which Fosun will). So that's 16/17, 17/18 and 18/19 seasons next year.
For Wolves, that rolling losses figure reduces to £61m as the previous 2 seasons prior to next season were spent in The Championship.
2nd Assumption. Assuming our losses for the last 3 seasons are around the £39m mark (but still inside the limit), that means our projected loss for this season is around the £21.6m mark. Together with 2016/17 loss of £23.2m, that means we would be able to lose £16.2m next season and still remain within the permitted limit of £61m.
Breaking these limits is not the end of the world, as you only have to demonstrate that you are able to reduce your losses. It's not then clear what happens if you then fail to decrease your losses.
Short Term Cost Control Regulations
STCC measures were designed to stop a club from massively increasing their wage bill over the course of one single transfer window using solely the Premier League revenue.
But, unless a club's wage bill is already £81m (£74m for this current season), these regulations do not apply. A massive advantage for newly promoted clubs as anyone already at or above the £81m level can only add £7m per season to their wage bill.
Wolves could, therefore, take their wage bill up to £81m over one transfer window without penalty.
3rd Assumption. Wolves' wage bill in 16/17 was £28.2m (highest was Villa with £61.5m). With the new signings and loan signings, this will probably have increased to somewhere around £40m for 2017/18.
4th Assumption. Wages will increase with promotion clauses, so this £40m figure will probably become £50m overnight without signing any more players.
So that leaves £31m that we can add to our wage bill this summer or £596,153 per week. After increased coaches and other staff, that's 5 £100,000 per week players!
5th Assumption. We will increase our wage bill as much as we can to £81m this summer!
Wolves
So we can lose £16.2m next season and increase our wage bill by around £31m.
But, that's on the back of massively increased revenues too.
Our revenues for the last few years have been fairly steady between £20-25m, player sales aside.
As an example, Bournemouth's revenues for this season are projected to be £160m!
So add on another around £140m to our revenue for next season.
Allowed losses - additional wage costs + increased revenues = very roughly around £125m to spend on players.
Add the magic of potential Jorge Mendes' loans and player amortisation into the mix and this could become a frightening figure."
Now, by copying and pasting this post I am by no means stating that we are going to go into the summer window and spend £100m, it is just that, we could do so and not be in breach of FFP.
Summary
With our new owners, there is the potential to spend big and with Nuno at the club, there is the potential to do well as he is a top, top coach. As I say, I believe we'll finish around 12th next season but as a fan, seeing Wolves getting shaped the way it is, compared what's gone on in the past, I am dreaming big in the long term. It may just be a pipe dream but that's what footballs all about, isn't it? Just to finish my post, I wish you good luck for next season, Everton are a club which I have a bit of a soft spot for and to be frank, I hate all the big six so it would be nice to see some other clubs make an appearance in there for a change.
If you have any questions then I'll try my best to answer them
If you want to read then you can but by all means, you don't have to hahah.
So, as you likely already know we're owned by Fosun, the Chinese conglomerate. Nuno has come in this year and revolutionised the way we play and has brought some great players with him, and to be honest with you at times I still have to pinch myself to make sure that what is happening is all real. Next year the Premier League is going to be a challenge. We are going to need to strengthen and personally, I believe we will finish roughly around 12th.
Mendes
Onto the controversial topic of Mendes. Many championship clubs have been quite bitter about how we've managed to get players like Neves and Jota, with the Leeds Chairman actually tweeting after we beat them 3-0 away from home this season that what we are doing is unfair and is illegal. Also, both Leeds and Aston Villa have complained to the EFL about our relations with Mendes. This was looked into and investigated by the EFL a few weeks ago and we're clean.
While it is the case that Jota and Neves have come to Wolves because of Mendes, it's not because Mendes has just forced them to move or told them to pack their bags because they're leaving Portugal for sunny Wolverhampton. The case is that because he knows our owners and the ambitious project that they have, he has advised players like Neves, Jota, Costa, Cavaleiro etc, that moving to Wolves would be a good career move. Many questioned whether it was the right decision for Neves to come to Wolves, but as this season has panned out it's become clear that it's worked out for him, with the large interest he has gained from some of the big clubs.
This interest can be shown through the recent rumours of Neves moving to Liverpool. I must say they've gotten quite obsessed over him ahaha, I've even seen a picture of Neves edited into the new Liverpool kit lol. Personally, while I believe Neves will leave Wolves by the end of next season (he really is too good for us), I don't believe that he will be sold this summer, for any price. The ambition that our owners have means that players like Neves and Jota will likely be used to show potential new signings that coming to Wolves would be a good career move, Mendes was even seen at Molineux recording the pre match buildup and then also the players lifting the trophy on his phone for the game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Regarding the signings we could be making this summer, it's anyone's guess really. The fact that we've gone from signing an unfit Grant Holt on loan two seasons ago to getting Jota puts me in dreamland as it is. Since January we've been linked to André Silva from AC Milan quite frequently and yesterday Di Marzio posted an article saying we could be in for Rui Patricio as well as Silva this summer, which would be insane considering last season we had Andy Lonergan in goal for part of the season. All these players would cost a fair chunk of money, which may be seen as a lot for a newly promoted team, which brings up the question of FFP.
FFP - (this is from a post on the MolineuxMix forum)
"Wolves and Fosun have pushed the limits of The Championship FFP regulations, with latest accounts revealing that we have spent as much as we can without breaching the £39m rolling 3 season losses.
1st Assumption!! That we do exactly the same next year and push the limits in The Premier League to spend as much as possible.
FFP Background
FFP was introduced by UEFA 7 years ago to stop clubs involved in European competitions from spending more than they earn (in short, to stop up and coming European teams from competing with their established names that generate them more revenue).
So as we are not in The Champion's League or The Europa League next season, we can ignore UEFA's FFP regulations.
The only FFP regulations we need to pay any attention to next season are The Premier League's rules, which are far less stringent than UEFA's.
The Premier League FFP rules can be broken down as follows: Profit & Sustainability Rules Short Term Cost Control (STCC) Regulations Profit & Sustainability Rules
Simply put, these rules stop clubs operating well beyond their means by recording persistent losses (see Leeds and Portsmouth).
By 1st March every year, clubs need to submit projected accounts for the current season demonstrating that their rolling losses over 3 seasons is no more than £105m (providing the owners inject equity, which Fosun will). So that's 16/17, 17/18 and 18/19 seasons next year.
For Wolves, that rolling losses figure reduces to £61m as the previous 2 seasons prior to next season were spent in The Championship.
2nd Assumption. Assuming our losses for the last 3 seasons are around the £39m mark (but still inside the limit), that means our projected loss for this season is around the £21.6m mark. Together with 2016/17 loss of £23.2m, that means we would be able to lose £16.2m next season and still remain within the permitted limit of £61m.
Breaking these limits is not the end of the world, as you only have to demonstrate that you are able to reduce your losses. It's not then clear what happens if you then fail to decrease your losses.
Short Term Cost Control Regulations
STCC measures were designed to stop a club from massively increasing their wage bill over the course of one single transfer window using solely the Premier League revenue.
But, unless a club's wage bill is already £81m (£74m for this current season), these regulations do not apply. A massive advantage for newly promoted clubs as anyone already at or above the £81m level can only add £7m per season to their wage bill.
Wolves could, therefore, take their wage bill up to £81m over one transfer window without penalty.
3rd Assumption. Wolves' wage bill in 16/17 was £28.2m (highest was Villa with £61.5m). With the new signings and loan signings, this will probably have increased to somewhere around £40m for 2017/18.
4th Assumption. Wages will increase with promotion clauses, so this £40m figure will probably become £50m overnight without signing any more players.
So that leaves £31m that we can add to our wage bill this summer or £596,153 per week. After increased coaches and other staff, that's 5 £100,000 per week players!
5th Assumption. We will increase our wage bill as much as we can to £81m this summer!
Wolves
So we can lose £16.2m next season and increase our wage bill by around £31m.
But, that's on the back of massively increased revenues too.
Our revenues for the last few years have been fairly steady between £20-25m, player sales aside.
As an example, Bournemouth's revenues for this season are projected to be £160m!
So add on another around £140m to our revenue for next season.
Allowed losses - additional wage costs + increased revenues = very roughly around £125m to spend on players.
Add the magic of potential Jorge Mendes' loans and player amortisation into the mix and this could become a frightening figure."
Now, by copying and pasting this post I am by no means stating that we are going to go into the summer window and spend £100m, it is just that, we could do so and not be in breach of FFP.
Summary
With our new owners, there is the potential to spend big and with Nuno at the club, there is the potential to do well as he is a top, top coach. As I say, I believe we'll finish around 12th next season but as a fan, seeing Wolves getting shaped the way it is, compared what's gone on in the past, I am dreaming big in the long term. It may just be a pipe dream but that's what footballs all about, isn't it? Just to finish my post, I wish you good luck for next season, Everton are a club which I have a bit of a soft spot for and to be frank, I hate all the big six so it would be nice to see some other clubs make an appearance in there for a change.
If you have any questions then I'll try my best to answer them
