Wolves chief reveals January transfer window plan with 'no rush' striker comment

Matt Hobbs has been talking about Wolves' transfer strategy with the January window now open and after the departures of Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in the summer

Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs has stood by the club’s cost-cutting measures and detailed how the goal of becoming ‘self-sustainable’ with affect this month’s transfer window.

Speaking to the club website Hobbs says Wolves will try to support the good work done by Gary O’Neil, who has guided the team to 11th in the Premier League and a run of three successive wins in the competition. However, he insisted that while key players are away at the Afica Cup of Nations and Asian Cup, options exist within the squad to make up the shortfall.

Hobbs addressed moves in the summer to bring Wolves in line with the Premier League’s Profitability & Sustainability Rules, which saw the likes of Ruben Neves, Adama Traore and Matheus Nunes leave Molineux - and said he would strive to make sure the club stayed within the regulations and was not endangered again.

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Hobbs said: “If we can support Gary in the market we will, but we’re trying to be a self-sustainable club. We dealt with the most pressing profit and sustainability issues during the summer in a positive and proactive way, so while Gary knows we’ll support him if we can, we’re also not going to put ourselves in any danger whatsoever.

“If players have gone out on loan, we can look to replace them, but they’ve got to be better than what we’ve got. The boys have done unbelievably well, and we have some talented young players coming through who want more minutes off the bench, but if we can improve what we’ve got, and help Gary and the squad be more competitive, then we will, within the financial position.

“Let’s focus on the players we’ve have in the building. Gary has spoken about developing the players that are here and I think all of them have improved under him, and that will continue to be the case.

“It’s about the long-term strategy of self-sustainability. We’ve got a lot of employees at the football club that we’re responsible for, a lot of people who work hard and do great jobs – if you look at what Phil Hayward [head of high performance] and Kai Win [first-team doctor] and their team have done, they’ve ensured we’ve got one of the best injury records in the league.

“It’s about building a whole club, rather than looking for answers in transfer windows and being reactive. If we have the right plan, have the right staff and all work together, then it’s a much healthier way for the club to evolve.”

As has seemed to be the case for so long Wolves are short of options up front, especially at the moment with Hee Chan Hwang away with South Korea and following the loan departures of Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva.

The club says they have done their due diligence on potential targets: “We’ve been looking for a while, but the market is restricted, there’s not a lot of business going on and not a lot of players available. You’re not going to take a player from a team’s starting eleven as nobody wants to make themselves weaker.

“Also, if you look at the amount of minutes Sasa and Fabio have played between them, we’re not looking to replace lots of minutes, so there’s not an immediate rush. While we do want to bring someone in, they’ve got to be the right person, but it’s not easy when we’re trying to find the best players clubs aren’t using.

“There’s no rush. As big clubs will spend money, other players become available. You don’t want to move too early and better players become available later in the window. We need to find the right person to add to our squad moving forward.

“Our net is very small because three or four other Premier League clubs are also looking for a centre forward and you’re taking them from someone’s bench or from an unknown market, hoping they adapt quickly to the Premier League.”

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