Wolves manager, Nuno Espirito Santo has said that his team needs to sign more players to make their squad stronger.
This is following his team’s exit from the Europa League after losing to Sevilla in the quarter-final- a competition the club is playing in for the first time in 47 years.
The Molineux outfit, who missed a first-half penalty, was knocked out by Lucas Ocampos’ late header.
- Wolves failed to score in the Europa League for the first time since their opening group game against Braga in September (1-0).
- Sevilla has won all three of their games English opposition at neutral venues, also beating Middlesbrough 4-0 in 2006 and Liverpool 3-1 in 2016.
- Raul Jimenez missed a penalty for Wolves for the first time, having scored each of the previous eight.
Although Wolves had more Premier League points this season than last, but lost the Europa League spot to Arsenal, who won the FA Cup. They will, therefore, be missing the competition next season after finishing seventh in the Premier League. England will be having Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspurs, and Arsenal as its representatives.
In the last 383 days which involved 59 games, 11 out of the 14 players who featured against Crusaders on 25 July 2019 played in Duisburg.
They also used only 21 players in the Premier League this season, three fewer than anybody else. Despite that, they named a strong team in most of their 17 Europa League matches, with eight of their players making 50 or more appearances.
“We need more players to help us, it’s a small squad. It’s time to recover. We need to rest, a big break. We should prepare well for next season and make good decisions to allow us to continue growing.
“It is time to reflect and analyze. The team that started the game is the same as the first game of the season. We made mistakes we cannot repeat.
“Let’s look at our future and what we need. The club has been amazing. Making good decisions will help us to be stronger,” he said.
What’s the future of Wolves stars without silverware?
Meanwhile, Wolves could be losing some of its top players in the summer window. One of them is Raul Jimenez, who has been linked to English top clubs and abroad after having a successful season that saw him score 21 goals in 47 games.
Sharing this sentiment is BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Matt Jarvis, who played for Wolves from 2007 to 2012. Jarvis, who also had a stint with West Ham said some of the club’s star players could leave if they do not achieve anything next season.
“Next year is a huge year for Wolves to go and attack it. If at the end of it there is no European football and no silverware, I think some of the players will start looking to move somewhere else.
“Raul Jimenez is not going to be playing every week at any club above Wolves, and as a forward, you want to be playing week in, week out or you lose your sharpness.”
