“This could be a season where they finish in the bottom half of the league, Pedro Neto is a bad sell for them & will be a massive miss”- Sky Pundit Paul Merson shockingly claims Wolves likely to finish bottom half of league table after Pedro Neto sale

Wolves have been told by pundit Paul Merson that they will massively miss one player they have sold this summer.

Gary O’Neil is ready to embark on his second season as manager at Molineux, and has a very tough opening fixture this weekend.

Wolves take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, and the Gunners will no doubt provide a stern test. They took Manchester City to the final day last season in the Premier League title race, and ended up scoring the second-highest number of goals in 2023/24.

Wolves will hope to cause an upset, but they will have to be at their very best. The currently injured Matheus Cunha being able to play in the game could be very key to picking up any points.

One man who definitely will not be playing is Pedro Neto after he was sold to Chelsea last weekend – and Paul Merson believes this sale is really going to hurt Wolves.

On Sunday, Wolves confirmed that Neto was no longer their player, with the winger joining Chelsea in a £54 million transfer.

It had been relatively quiet on Neto beforehand, and he had even rejoined the squad out in Miami and played against RB Leipzig. But things moved very quickly once Wolves returned from their trip. Chelsea had seemingly been working in the shadows and last Friday, and agreement was reached.

By Sunday Neto was a Chelsea player. Sporting director Matt Hobbs claimed after that Neto didn’t necessarily want to leave, but it was simply an opportunity he could not pass up. Despite it coming out of the blue in the end, many had expected Neto to be sold at some point this summer. For Merson, his sale could really sting.

He told Sportskeeda: “Pedro Neto was a bad sell and will be a massive miss – he was a match-winner for them. This could be a season where they finish in the bottom half of the league.”

£54 million was a good fee to receive for a player with an injury record like he has. Yes, Neto was a superb talent and Merson is right to brand him a game-changer. But offloading him for £54 million doesn’t make him ‘a bad sell’.

It is possible Merson means that it is simply bad for Wolves to lose Neto, in which case he is quite right. But certainly, the terms of the transfer were decent for Wolves.

Hopefully, other players will now really step up following his sale. We have already seen the likes of Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan really shine while he was out injured last season, and new signings Rodrigo Gomes and Jorgen Strand Larsen have both looked good in pre-season.