When Gary O’Neill first arrived at Wolves, he was a master instructor. Now, one transfer move has proven to be an incredible accomplishment.
While the 2023–24 season had the potential to be much worse, it also had the potential to be much better for Wolves.
The team was in disarray when Gary O’Neill took over, a few days before the Premier League season began, as Julen Lopetegui left because of worries about the lack of depth in the middle of a financial crisis.
The initial intention was that the English manager, who had previously managed Bournemouth, might retain Wolves in the Premier League.
He exceeded this aim by leading the team to a season that saw a five-point increase in points from Lopetegui’s 2022–23 total.
There is still a lot of work to be done, particularly in the transfer window to replenish the squad currently at Molineux.
Although Wolves might potentially acquire several very skilled players, very few trade deals could override one of O’Neil’s initial decisions at the team—the sale of Matheus Nunes, for example, has shown time and again to be a wise option.
When Gary O’Neil sold Matheus Nunes to Manchester City, he hit gold. Manchester City acquired Nunes from Wolves on the final day of the 2023 transfer window, following rumors that the Portugal international was refusing to train.
The 25-year-old was eager to join the treble winners after analyst Chris Sutton called his behavior before leaving Molineux a “disgrace.” Sutton was among several who found Nunes’ persistence in demanding the transfer to be insulting.
The first bid of £47 million was rejected, and O’Neil held out for a fee of £53 million to be given to Wolves. Eventually, City came up with what the Old Gold believed to be a more reasonable asking price.
Nunes became Wolves’ highest-ever departure with a £53 million deal, surpassing the sums paid for Morgan Gibbs-White and Ruben Neves.
While Bruno Lage deserves a great deal of credit for selling Gibbs-White for an incredible £42.5 million, O’Neil struck gold when he sold Nunes, and the most recent information demonstrates how wise the Midlands club was to cash in at that point.
After leaving Wolves, Matheus Nunes’s future at Manchester City is now in doubt.
It’s a fact that Nunes will now all too well understand—he only managed 14 starts across all competitions in 2023–24, averaging a meager 44 minutes per game in the Premier League.
HITC said that the champions may “be willing to cut their losses” with Nunes, a midfielder who has interest from Saudi Arabia, after he failed to score in his City debut campaign. Nunes’ time with the team may already be up
. With only one Premier League goal in his career over two seasons, the Portuguese star demonstrated his abilities during the 2022–2023 season at Wolves, although he was by no means irreplaceable.
Fortunately, O’Neil and Wolves got the better of him by obtaining £53 million for his transfer. Nunes did not have the impact he had planned for at City, leaving a legacy of what might have been if he had stayed at Molineux.
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