Wolves sit rock bottom and in serious need of fresh players ahead of the season’s second half but with outgoings almost certain and January being a notoriously difficult time to secure quality deals, it’s time for a look back.
As another year comes to an end, January gives an opportunity for teams to strengthen, add depth and replenish squads following the busiest period of the footballing calendar.
AFCON, injuries and poor summer windows make this a crucial time for clubs hoping to turn their seasons around or push on further to reach their goals, the latter being the most appropriate for Wolves after the club’s business ahead of the campaign was rightly scrutinised by most.
Despite what Jeff Shi may have protested, Wolves’ summer window can only be considered a failure after the club’s quality was sold and not sufficiently replaced.
Attracting players in the January window may be an uphill task for Wolves too as the club are bottom with what feels like a mountain between themselves and the likes of Nottingham Forest and Leeds who sit above the dotted line.
But nevertheless, it’s time to look back on how we’ve performed in our previous winter windows and keep our fingers crossed that 2026 may bring investment, quality and experience into the squad.
2018/2019 – 5/10
It’s difficult to rank this window, seeing as the only piece of business involving incomings was the permanent signing of Jonny Otto after his initial loan signing in the summer.
Wolves spent around £18 million on the Spaniard and, despite a torrid time with injuries from Covid onwards and a somewhat sour end to his time at the club, this was a good bit of business for a defensively solid and reliable Premier League wingback.
Wolves had no real need to make any movement in this window as the club had enjoyed a brilliant summer window and sat 7th after gameweek 19, which is why this window gets a very average rating.
2019/2020 – 6/10
This window saw the club shell out £17 million to bring in an exciting Portuguese forward by the name of Daniel Podence, the free signing of Leonardo Campana the only other deal done.
Campana failed to make an appearance for Wolves but the club did receive between 2 and 3 million pounds when he departed for Inter Miami.
As for Podence, the 5 foot 5 winger didn’t immediately set the Premier League alight but his importance in future seasons cannot be understated as he popped up with big goals in crucial matches for Wolves.
For the equaliser away at Nottingham Forest in 2023, thank you Daniel.
2020/2021 – 2/10
Following the horrific injury to Raul Jimenez, Wolves were desperate for a striker to take the heavy burden off a teenage Fabio Silva.
The club were sat 14th in January, a sharp dropoff from the back-to-back 7th place finishes in the seasons that preceded it.
Up step the saviour, Willian José.
Just kidding, the club struck up a loan deal with Real Sociedad for the highly rated Brazilian striker but he’d score just one goal in his six months at the club which came against bottom side Sheffield United.
Wolves were suffering and needed a reliable number 9 as well as depth to freshen up the squad, we got neither with the only signing being Willian José making this window pretty poor.
2021/2022 – 4/10
Similar to the first window in a way, the squad was in a steady spot, occupying 8th position for 23 gameweeks despite not being a free-scoring side.
The club made three signings in January 2022, Hayao Kawabe, Sang-Bin Jeong and Chiquinho.
Kawabe and Jeong were loaned out immediately to Grasshoppers while Chiquinho looked like a raw but bright young talent.
Hindsight tells us it hasn’t really worked out for him at Wolves, but at the time it looked like a shrewd bit of business when the club spent around £3 million on him.
Wolves had signed Hwang Hee-Chan and Fransico Trincao on loan deals in the summer to bolster the attack but another forward would have made sense in the winter window.
2022/2023 – 9/10
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that this window ranks highly. Wolves were bottom of the league at Christmas and needed to spend big to stay in the division, they did exactly that.
However, there is a big difference between spending big money and spending big money wisely and Wolves got it spot on in January 2023.
Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes were brought in to boost the midfield for a combined £25 million, immediately becoming crucial to the fight for survival while also becoming fan favourites.
Craig Dawson was purchased for around £3 million and gave the backline some much-needed calmness and experience while Dan Bentley joined as goalkeeping backup.
Pablo Sarabia arrived from PSG and, despite it taking him a while to settle in the Premier League, he would come up with special moments in big games for Wolves in the seasons to follow, most notably Tottenham Hotspur at home in November of 2023.
The marquee signing of the window was Matheus Cunha as part of a loan deal with an obligation to buy for a reported £45 million to top off a sensational window.
The Brazilian would go on to score 33 goals and assist 15 in two and-a-half years in Old Gold.
2023/2024 – 2/10
And back to reality.
What do you do when you’re in need of a striker? You let both Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic go out on loan and fail to bring in a replacement of course!
Wolves made no first team signings despite Gary O’Neil’s outspoken desire to bring a number 9 to the club, Noha Lemina was the only arrival.
In fairness, this was a window in which Wolves were right on the line in terms of the PSR restrictions but even so, the loan market could have been explored.
Wolves were ultimately ruined by injuries in forward areas following this window and the very positive first half of the season under Gary O’Neil was evened out by one win in the final ten Premier League games of the season.
2024/2025 – 6.5
On the face of it, being in the middle of a relegation battle and signing Emmanuel Agbadou, Marshall Munetsi and Nasser Djiga looks quite underwhelming and fans were right to have a few reservations over this window.
However, the introduction of Agbadou for £16.6 million immediately solidified the backline of a side who were desperate for a quality central defender.
Munetsi has suffered a poor season this time around but at the time, he brought something to the team that was lacking when he, like Agbadou, joined from Reims.
A midfielder who could play closer to Larsen while occupying opposition defenders inside the box, almost a Dendoncker role alongside Neves and Moutinho under Nuno.
Wolves also held on to Matheus Cunha which feels worth mentioning, even if the contract signed following the 2-0 victory over Aston Villa included a fairly disappointing release clause.
For the simple reason that Wolves stayed up and Agbadou transformed the defence, the window feels deserving of a respectable rating.
2025/2026 – ?
Who knows, unfortunately even the most optimistic Wolves fans can accept the challenge of survival to be unfeasible so recruitment will be difficult this window.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see who departs this window too, Matt Doherty’s post-match interview after defeat against Brentford last month alluded to this ahead of the window.
Signing players who want to be here now is one thing, signing players who want to be here come September when Wolves may be embarking on a season in the Championship is another.
However, that is exactly what Wolves need to do, recruit players who can bring pride back to a fanbase who have suffered greatly to this point.
