Wolves 23/24 Fantasy Flashback

Ryan Barnes
Jul 14, 2024
5 min read

Before we look ahead to this season's prospects, let's first digest Wolves' takeaways from the previous season in our 23/24 Fantasy Flashback series. In this year's 24/25 Draft Kit, we are featuring both a Fantasy Flashback and a Fantasy Forecast for every single Premier League team. The flashbacks will be available on Draft Kit launch day, while the forecasts will drop closer to draft day. Check the 24/25 Draft Kit main page often, as it's updated constantly!

In addition to reviewing top Draft PL fantasy contributors, Wolves' Fantasy Flashback will highlight a breakout player and a fantasy flop, analyze the impact of any injuries suffered by Wolves players, and review the team's performance as a whole. Then, be sure to check out the Wolves 24/25 Fantasy Forecast to find out whether last season was a fluke or if we predict more of the same.

Check out our 24/25 Draft Kit for all the pre-season information you could ever need: Draft Rankings, Team Previews, Mock Drafts, Strategy, Draft 101. We've got it all!

Wolves 23/24 Fantasy Flashback

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23/24 Player Performance

Injury Impact

Overall Team Performance

23/24 Wolves Player Performance

Let's review how Wolves players fared in 23/24, with an emphasis on their Draft Premier League fantasy assets. We'll also discuss any pertinent info regarding rotation, managerial tactics, and injuries below. What can we learn from their performance in the last campaign?

Note: The following table is interactive. Desktop users can apply the Filter, Group, and Sort buttons to arrange the data to their preferences. Mobile users can tap on a player card to view all data points. The table can be reset to its default state by refreshing the page.

Without stating the obvious, Wolves is not home to many prolific fantasy scorers. But there is still some gold in these black country hills. Pedro Neto, the talisman when healthy - which is not every often - looked like his former self for a stretch and led the way in terms of Points Per Start (PPS) with a tasty 13+. When he inevitably went down, Pablo Sarabia stepped up and took the set piece mantle and the creative reins, turning into a candidate for "streamer of the year" with double digit PPS. The rest of the midfield was unpredictable, with both Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes popping up for some great scores and then reverting to type. Up top, Hwang Hee-Chan had quite a goal-scoring purple patch - he does very little otherwise - but that fizzled out in the latter stages of the campaign. The real shining light, though, was Matheus Cunha - the only one who consistently scored well throughout the season (notwithstanding a knock near the end that kept him out a few games). The defenders, despite having their moments, just couldn't find any consistency. Rayan Ait Nouri, the shiny toy in the backline, unfortunately always looks better in real life than his fantasy points suggest. Between the sticks, Jose Sa remained a top 3 GK but couldn't reach the dizzying heights of last season.

23/24 Breakout Player

Matheus Cunha

Position: Forward

23/24 Points: 349.50 (12th best FWD)

23/24 Points Per Start: 11.8 (29 starts)

Wolves striker has long been a poisoned chalice since Raul Jimenez's injury and departure. But Matheus Cunha finally emerged in 23/24 to provide a much needed spark in the front line. He contributed nearly 20 Goals/Assists (G/A), more than doubling his PPS from just over 5 in 22/23 to almost a dozen in 23/24. And he upped his ghost point game, boosting his Ghost Points Per Start (GPPS) from roughly 4.5 to 7.5. If he stays at Wolves, he's someone to be excited about picking come draft time.

Honorable Mention is Pablo Sarabia, who went from bit part player to critical creative outlet in the absence of Pedro Neto. His scores petered out at the end, but from December to April he was playing like a MID2, finishing with 11 G/A and over 10 PPS. He is one to keep an eye on going into the 24/25 season.

23/24 Fantasy Flop

Matt Doherty

Position: Defender

23/24 Points: 82.25 (87th best DEF)

23/24 Points Per Start: 5.0 (9 starts)

Given how neglected Wolves assets were in most 23/24 drafts, it's very difficult to pick out a "flop". You can't be a flop unless you were at least drafted before the 10th Round. But we move. Unfortunately, due to high expectations and nostalgia, Matt Doherty will fill the void. Many viewed him as a sleeper in the draft, one who would get back to his old self with former club after some time in the Spurs wilderness. But it didn't happen. He only started 9 games and finished with a measly 5 PPS. His ghost point-laden cameo v Bournemouth in October was all a deceptive facade. It's safe to say that he'll never again be the swashbuckling wing back he was under Nuno Espirito Santo circa 2019. Let's act accordingly.

Honorable Mention is Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who came in the summer transfer window but was too late to be included in drafts. He arrived from France with a decent amount of hype but he struggled and his 4.1 PPS is appalling. Will he crack on in 24/25 with a season under his belt?

Injury Impact

While Wolves stayed relatively healthy overall, unfortunately, the injury bug mainly hit their studs. Pedro Neto, unsurprisingly given his injury history, was twice struck with hamstring issues, which restricted him to only 18 starts. Newcomer Jean-Ricner Bellegarde , Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-Chan, and Craig Dawson also missed some time due to injury but nothing major.

Wolves Overall Team Performance

It was a strange season for Wolves. Starting the season with a change of manager is never ideal but Gary O'Neill made a fist of it after taking over from Julen Lopetegui in August. Despite very few signings, almost no preseason, and losing Neto for long stretches, O'Neill kept Wolves out of a relegation fight and at times played some great attacking football. Most importantly, he got them scoring goals, the lack of which has long been a concern at Molineux. Wolves saw the back of the net 50 times this past season - quite the improvement upon the paltry 31 goals they scored in 22/23. On the other side, Wolves defense was fairly leaky, conceding the 7th highest number of goals in the league (65). With more time and some strengthening in the squad - big asks given how stingy this ownership has been - O'Neill could get Wolves fighting for a top half spot.