Former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Neil Collins has urged the club not to follow Aston Villa’s lead when conducting their transfer business this summer.
The Championship head into the summer under new leadership, after Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Paul Lambert as the new manager at Molineux, and he will be expected to make changes to the first-team squad.
However, with many of last summer’s signings coming under scrutiny following Wolves’ disappointing 15th-place finish in the league last season, Collins has called for better judgement in the transfer market this term.
Collins fired a warning to his former club to be aware of the “physical” and “relentless” nature of the league when identifying their targets, and used Midlands rivals Aston Villa as an example of how not to go about their business.
He told the Express & Star: “You can’t just go out and buy names – look at Villa last year. I think there’s got to be a real distinct plan – it’ll be really interesting to see how they do.
“When players join a club they’ve got to impress the other players and then the supporters. It happens when anyone joins – ‘what’s this guy like, what can he do?’
“If they can’t cope with the physical, relentless Championship, if they’re not up to it and don’t have the right attitude it can be divisive in the changing room.”
Under their new manager Roberto Di Matteo, Aston Villa began preparations for their upcoming season in the Championship by adding no fewer than nine new players to the squad.
The club racked up a bill of more than £50million, including a £15million deal to sign Bristol City goalscorer Jonathan Kodjia, a deal that proved to be perhaps the only worthwhile purchase.
Di Matteo of course, attempted to balance the books with a number of player sales, but his new signings failed to make the desired impact as Aston Villa were left in 19th place at the time of his sacking in October.
He was swiftly replaced by current chief Steve Bruce, who made eight of his own additions in the January transfer window, as the club parted with another £20million.
But Aston Villa still failed to mount a promotion challenge, finishing 18 points adrift of the play-offs in 13th place.
Wolves will consider themselves capable of mounting a promotion challenge under Santo next season, and the upcoming transfer window will be key to laying the foundations for such a successful campaign.