Andre, Joao Gomes, Tolu Arokodare: Welcome to the Wolves summer sale

Roll up, roll up! It’s the great Wolverhampton Wanderers summer sale.

At Molineux, a surge of exits awaits following relegation back to the Championship. Though why, readers might ask, would other teams be rushing to pick off players from a club experiencing one of the worst seasons in Premier League history?

Well, because despite having one of the most unbalanced, ill-equipped, underpowered squads seen in the top flight in recent years, Wolves actually have some very good players on their books.

Added to that, they have a few that sporting director Matt Jackson and head coach Rob Edwards — assuming he remains in post for next season — will be keen to be rid of as the focus turns to 2026-27. If there was any doubt about the desire for change from Edwards, his mildly ill-tempered “they’ve got to go” speech in his press conference after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton put that to bed.

A grim-faced Rob Edwards applauds the travelling Wolves fans after Saturday’s drubbing at Brighton (Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Those two factors combined mean a summer exodus is likely, even if very few Wolves players have managed to enhance their reputations during a season in which relegation has seemed certain since well before Christmas.

There are exceptions, the most notable among them being Mateus Mane. The young forward was a virtual unknown at the start of the campaign to all but the most ardent Wolves diehards. Now, at the age of just 18, his talent is widely acknowledged across the country.

In truth, his impact on Wolves’ season was somewhat fleeting. Introduced into the starting XI by Edwards around Christmas, Mane made an immediate impact and had fans on their feet in a campaign when excitement about their team has been the rarest of commodities.

The tailing-off of his form since those early, eye-catching displays means the prospect of Wolves selling the academy graduate for huge money this summer has receded, but it does not mean interest in him will have gone away.

Wolves have never wanted to sell their best young player. That has not changed. But there has always been a realisation that offers from certain clubs at a certain level in the game might turn Mane’s head and give the Molineux hierarchy a difficult decision to make. That has not changed, either.

The Bueno boys, Santiago and Hugo, are the other Wolves players who have quite clearly enhanced their personal reputations during a horrible campaign for the club.

In a struggling team, eight-time Uruguay international Santiago Bueno has found an impressive level of consistency in the centre of the back three during the second half of the season and Wolves expect interest from Spain, where he played previously for Barceloan’s B team and Girona, and possibly from Premier League clubs who might want him to bolster their squad, especially if they play the three-at-the-back system that has mitigated some of the 27-year-old’s physical limitations.

Santiago Bueno could attract interest from Spain and in the Premier League (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

Wolves hope he will stay but know he might be tempted by offers to stay at the highest level of club football, in England or elsewhere.

The same applies to his Spanish namesake, Hugo Bueno, who has demonstrated his durability, athleticism and crossing ability at left wing-back this season. Even though there have still been a few moments where his defensive instincts have been found wanting, the club anticipate interest from the Premier League and Europe in a 23-year-old who has proven himself to be low-maintenance and dependable.

Then there are the players who have done little to bolster their reputations, but for whom Wolves will still aim to generate a market.

The easiest to do that with might be David Moller Wolfe, who has been unable to dislodge Hugo Bueno from the team but who has generally performed satisfactorily when called up since his winter-window arrival in early February. That, combined with his previous solid form with AZ in the Netherlands and the 24-year-old’s status as a regular Norway international, should ensure interest.

That is less true of Jackson Tchatchoua, who has struggled badly on the opposite flank, but his transfer fee from Italy’s Hellas Verona last summer was a relatively modest £11million ($15m). That means his “book value” is now £8million to £9m — a figure Wolves might just manage to extract from suitors abroad to avoid an accounting loss on the 24-year-old Belgian.

Jackson Tchatchoua has underwhelmed at Wolves (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Elsewhere on that flank, Pedro Lima and Rodrigo Gomes are talented players who, even allowing for the naivety of youth that sometimes undermines their efforts, Wolves are likely to want to keep for next season in the Championship.

The same is not true for Tolu Arokodare, whose £24million transfer fee when he signed from Belgium’s Genk last summer makes him pound-for-pound the worst of that window’s six new arrivals. The Nigerian’s “book value” is still around £18m and, even though he was a reliable goalscorer in the Belgian league, there is no guarantee of a market at that price.

Could Wolves recoup a loan fee to help with their accounting before selling Arokodare, 25, at a later date or might they have to keep him and hope that his obvious physical attributes are an asset in the second tier?

Tolu Arokodare apologises to the Wolves fans after missing a penalty against Crystal Palace (Paul Harding/Getty Images)

Hwang Hee-chan also seems likely to leave. After five years at Molineux and a dramatic loss of form in recent seasons, this feels like a natural time for a parting of the ways with the 30-year-old South Korea international forward. The offer of £21million that they rejected from Marseille two summers ago will not be coming again, though.

Wolves might also consider offers for central defender Yerson Mosquera. While the 25-year-old Colombian’s obvious talent and athleticism are popular at the club, his failure to curb his volatile temperament makes him a potential liability.

And even though Wolves are committed to signing Czech Republic captain Ladislav Krejci at the end of his season-long loan from Girona for a fee of £20million, there is a general expectation that he will attract interest and is likely to move on. The 27-year-old centre-back has done well enough in his first Premier League campaign to attract interest from England and elsewhere in Europe, and a solid World Cup this summer could enhance his appeal.

Sam Johnstone, 33, has not shone in his two seasons at Wolves, but the relative shortage of vacancies for goalkeepers means his departure cannot be guaranteed, while the club hope to keep Jean-Ricner Bellegarde but anticipate some interest, possibly from Ligue 1, where the 27-year-old Haiti international previously did well for Strasbourg.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (right) might attract some interest (Warren Little/Getty Images)

Which brings us to the players who have always been regarded as certain to depart in the event of relegation this season.

Andre, Joao Gomes and Jose Sa have not enjoyed their greatest seasons, but the Brazilian midfield pair have enough class and pedigree to guarantee offers, while goalkeeper Sa is sufficiently experienced and has a high enough ceiling to interest clubs in England, his native Portugal, Europe or even Saudi Arabia, where his agent Jorge Mendes has already found takers for multiple clients.

A departure from Molineux has seemed likely for Sa, now 33, in each of the past two summers. This one is when it will surely happen.

Andre, 24, has the talent to thrive in a better Premier League team, but seems more likely to get regular starts in another European league before perhaps returning to England with his experience enhanced. Wolves could expect to receive as much as £30million for a player who has admirers at Italian giants Juventus, which would represent a healthy profit on the £21m they paid Fluminense for him two years ago.

Andre has suitors from Italy (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

And then there is Gomes, one of very few Wolves players to have retained the affections of supporters during a depressing decline for the club.

Those fans will shed few tears at the departures of those squad members seen as symptomatic of Wolves’ malaise. Gomes is the obvious exception, having rarely let his levels of commitment and energy drop.

But his loss is seemingly the most nailed-on of all mentioned in this article, and the supporters would not deny the 25-year-old midfielder the chance to further his career at a Champions League club, with Atletico Madrid hopeful of completing a deal that could bring Wolves in excess of £35million.

For a club who have suffered a wretched campaign, Wolves should not be struggling for transfer income. Spending that money wisely as they aim for a swift return to the Premier League will be less straightforward.