Anxiety at Wolves 'should prove unfounded'

There is a certain amount of anxiety around Wolves, although it should prove unfounded.

Vitor Pereira proved how adept he is after taking a side rooted in the bottom three to mid-table comfort in a matter of months last season.

While Wolves have failed to win during the summer, it should not be taken as a barometer of any potential success or failure ahead of Saturday's opening day visit of Manchester City.

Yet no Matheus Cunha or Rayan Ait-Nouri has made Wolves fans uneasy after the pair departed for Manchester United and City respectively.

Without Cunha's goals - he scored 15 and made six assists in the Premier League last season - there are legitimate questions where those lost goals will come from. Ait-Nouri also provided four goals in the league and a bunch of assists from full-back.

Wolves scored 63 goals last season in all competitions but they have lost more than half of those goals: 32 in total, including Cunha's 17, while Goncalo Guedes [five], Ait-Nouri [five], Pablo Sarabia [three], Tommy Doyle [one] and Mario Lemina [one].

Of the five players who played the most minutes they have also lost three: Ait-Nouri [3.406] Nelson Semedo [3,077] and Cunha [2,831].

As expected, Jorgen Strand Larsen turned his loan into a permanent move, and his 14 goals were useful in an impressive debut season but he will need support. New additions Fer Lopez and Jhon Arias will provide threat but need time.

David Moller Wolfe has filled the full-back role after arriving from AZ but Wolves do lack quality deputies for Andre and Joao Gomes in midfield, as willing as Marshall Munetsi or Jean-Ricner Bellegarde are.

Another summer saw another loss of a captain with Semedo opting against signing a new deal, following Conor Coady, Ruben Neves and Max Kilman in leaving Molineux - with ex-skipper Lemina also departing in February.

There are still spaces to be filled, which is understood at Molineux. With Pereira having more control - and ally Domenico Teti replacing Matt Hobbs in the newly titled director of professional football role - the Wolves manager should be able to guide his side through any difficulties.