None of the headline figures emerging from the latest Wolves accounts, released this week, feel very comforting even if the reported loss of £15.3m was not much different from the previous period.
Confirmation that Wolves do not appear to be close to the regulatory limits of losses, beyond which there may be punishments, is tempered by the thought that the punishment was effectively served in advance by selling several of their best players.
This accounting period was extended to 13 months, a one-off move to bring Wolves in line with other clubs and player contracts, and therefore includes two Junes, months in which wages still have to be paid but income is not generated. Wolves report that allowing for that, to provide a more accurate comparison with previous years, they roughly broke even for 2024-25. The extended period, though, means these accounts include the sales of not only Maximilian Kilman and Pedro Neto in the summer of 2024, but Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri last year.
The problem with selling the best players – all right, the other problem with selling the best players, apart from the obvious one – is that you can only sell each of them once. Upward pressure on the wage bill and wage-to-revenue ratio has been eased by some mid-season departures, as well as free-transfer exits of big earners like Pablo Sarabia and Nelson Semedo last summer. But Wolves did spend quite a lot last summer too, in the new accounting period, and when that statement lands on the doormat this time next year it may not make pleasant reading either.
By then, the course for Wolves’ immediate future will have been set. Some running costs may decrease in the Championship, but revenues will of course be much lower, and the new chairman Nathan Shi has already committed to reducing the cost of season tickets next season. That will be a relatively small price to pay to keep as many fans onside as possible. Ultimately, the only way to really win them back over will be to deliver a promotion back to the Premier League, which will surely require a significant reinvestment of any player sales this year back into the squad.
Fosun, through Shi, have restated their intention to restore Wolves back to the Premier League and continue to future success. These accounts do not foretell the future, but after reading them it is hard to imagine getting there without significant new financial support from the owners. The goal of self-sustainability may itself be unsustainable after relegation.
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