Jeff Shi pens open letter to Wolves fans amid concerns, plans and FFP issues

Jeff Shi pens an open letter to Wolves fans amid current concerns, plans for the future and FFP issues ahead of the 2023/24 season.

The club’s chairman says the club’s Chinese owners Fosun are committed to delivering success adding that they have no intention of selling the club.

However, he does stress that Wolverhampton Wanderers are having to be cautious with their summer spending so that they can pass the Premier League‘s financial fair play rules.

Boss Julen Lopetegui is unable to get in a many signing as he’d like with Republic of Ireland full-back Matt Doherty re-joining as a free agent in July the only notable incoming.

In May, Lopetegui said he was not asking for “incredible signings”, and despite reports in recent weeks claiming he could be set to leave due to the financial situation, the Spaniard is still in charge with a week to go until the season gets underway.\

Nine days ago, Guillem Balague even spoke to Julen Lopetegui about Wolves and he explained with a very calm voice the alarming situation he finds himself in.

Chairman Jeff Shi has penned a letter to Wolves supporters.

— Wolves (@Wolves) August 3, 2023

OPEN LETTER:

Dear Wolves supporters,

We are approaching the eighth season since Fosun’s takeover in 2016. I am proud of the journey we have been on together, and the achievement and growth in that time.

I appreciate a lot the amazing and consistent support from our fans, since the very beginning. I am also happy that we have been able to deliver our fans perhaps the most successful era in the latter decades of Wolves’ history and we wish to continue delivering it for the long-term future.

We are working hard to try to improve our performance on the pitch at the moment, as we always do. We are also working hard to make sure the club have a long-term robustness and sustainability. The latter is equally important, because we’ve seen many cases in the football industry where short-term achievement could not bring long-term success. Even in recent seasons, we have seen a lot of clubs in the UK and around the world struggle to maintain a sustainable balance of both sporting performance and financial strength.

As we approach the start of a new season, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a number of things for you…

First of all, Fosun remains committed to Wolves and has never had any plans to sell the club. The club is a long-term project and an important one for Fosun.

When we were in the Championship, when we were in the pandemic, when we’ve faced all kinds of challenges, on or off the pitch, the owners have always done their best to support us. They also share our happiness and excitement with every achievement, or positive step we make at the club, no matter how big or small.

As the owners and management of the club, one important thing we must learn and follow is the Premier League’s rules on profit and sustainability (formerly called financial fair play or abbreviated to FFP). Before the end of 2023/24 season there will be an annual test and we are going to make sure we pass it, as we have done in the last five seasons.

FFP sets a profit and loss limit for three rolling years, with a loss of £105m the threshold. We were very comfortable on FFP during the years just after promotion and before the covid pandemic, because of a relatively low wage bill, low-cost signings from the Championship and relatively stronger finishes in the league and Europe.

After a longer stay in the Premier League, we are now at a stage where we must pay even closer attention to FFP and manage it well. The first reason is the inevitable impact of covid on our revenue. Though we’ve put those years behind us, we still needed to invest more afterwards to fill the gaps caused by the pandemic, especially on squad strengthening.

Secondly, we once had a fantastic squad, built in the Championship then brought into the Premier League. However, after the ageing of some players and unexpected injuries, that squad had to be evolved year by year with a significantly increasing wage bill and player acquisition costs in the best, but also most expensive, league in the world.

Finally, in recent years we have made a lot of long-term investments into young talent that may not play for our first-team immediately, and those investments increase our asset value in the balance sheet but impact our profit and loss, especially in a net investment phase.

An additional factor to consider in our FFP management is that last January we invested much more highly in the first-team than we had anticipated, bringing in six players. It was a very unusual winter window for us, and it literally advanced the investment room originally left for this summer.

The positive thing is that FFP is based on a rolling number, season by season, so if we do manage it well this summer, next summer we will be more free financially.

We have been preparing for this challenge for a long time. Since the beginning of 2020/21 season, we have been consciously signing players and promoting academy talents to make us ready to replace important players when needed. We know some signings might need a longer time to grow and adapt before they can play important roles in the first-team, but the chance will come sooner or later because the squad is evolving every year. This summer, I hope, is a window where we may need less new signings, since many players in the current squad have developed well enough to take more important roles in the team.

To manage the evolution of a squad is not easy and we can’t make every signing right, however patience, composure and a long-term view is crucial, for growth of players and for the build of a squad over time.

The Premier League is very unpredictable and challenging, especially with new types of ownership at some clubs bringing unprecedented investment, with excellent people coming to this league as our competitors and also in a post-covid global economy. However, I am very confident in our squad, but we do need to be humble with a challenger attitude, as if it was our first Premier League season all over again.

In my experience, the performance on the pitch is not only defined by simple additions of players, but by team spirit, chemistry, momentum, morale, leadership, tactics, training, hard work and a variety of other factors. It is more about how we assemble, incentivise and guide the squad, therefore the work from the head coach and all the staff supporting him is also crucial.

Our head coach has undoubtedly done an excellent job since joining us last November. We hired him and his team at a very difficult moment and without a doubt they succeeded in the aims we set for them. Now, together with the players and all support staff, they are working hard again to prepare for the upcoming campaign.

Throughout the last seven seasons, I have never had a month where everything was perfect. The reality of running a football club is to continuously face issues and challenges, and then tackle them with solutions. FFP is one of the more short-term and benign challenges we have faced. The club has gone through much more difficult tests in the past and will do so again in the future.

However, we are still progressing every day, because we never lose; we win or we learn, as one pack.

Your sincerely,

Jeff Shi

This is what Twitter users are saying as Jeff Shi pens open letter to Wolves fans amid concerns, plans and FFP issues…

@will55suiiii: at least hes cleared some concerns up, but it means if we go down this year we are absolutely finished

@kingmichael_88: In a nutshell we signed 6 players in January for a lot of money so don’t expect any signings this summer. It’s easy to forget about the January window, but still a little hard to stomach.

@matthewjhi91: “Will be more financially free next summer”. Rolling the dice that we will still be in the league. We need 2/3 quality additions not wholesale changes.

@cfoghansen: Great part 1. Now looking forward to part 2 where we’re told why these issues weren’t made clear to Hobbs and Lopetegui in February so they could’ve adjusted expectations, not considered resigning in anger, and not spend June and July trying to sign players we can’t pay for.

@Jaywolvesfc: The whole point is, I could name 3/4 good solid free agents available right now that would make the fan base happy, we need additional signings, weather that’s a couple loans or free agents, making everything so complicated, a CB, Winger and striker is needed ASAP

@Holy_TrinityEFC: Just do yourselves a favour. Don’t talk to chairman Bill.

@jamiewalters23: Was hoping it was a resignation letter, it isn’t. Do one Jeff, you might have gotten away with it if you hadn’t put the prices up so much. Time to go Jeff, too many poor decisions at the top and you’re at the top. 👋🏻 👋🏻

@JayWolves: Fair play Jeff Shi. Needed that. Ultimately Fosun can only play by FFP… They have been brilliant for our club on the whole. Time to batten down the hatches and see returns from, Fabio, Sasa, Cunha & Nunes. Out Of Darkness Cometh Light 🐺

@DannyRosamond: Put ticket prices up, knowing the seasons about trying to survive with what’s left of the squad. Cheers, Jeff 👍

@TheSoff_: “as if it was our first Premier League season all over again.” It’s literally our fifth premier league season, and we had a spell in europe, why on earth do we need to act as though its out first season

@Panjabi_Wolf: Thank you for the honest update. We are with you, lets get through this season, fingers crossed we keep heading in the same direction together – up the table

@PortuWolves: The fans wanted an explanation from Jeff, he gives them one and they react exactly the same. What’s the point 🤦‍♂️ Get behind the squad, we spent £200m last season.

@WhiteWolf_1877: Love Jeff, hate Jeff, I do respect he has at least communicated with us, if late. Describing issues in detail, giving credence to morale, team spirit, hard work sustainability and our wage structure are significant points. I WILL GIVE JEFF THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBTS I STILL HAVE

@mickjones1: Majority of the players shipped out with the exception of adama and neves were bench warmers and hardly ever featured in the starting 11. Hope with a preseason with the squad that remains we may do better. Silva has returned looking bigger and no longer lightweight. Let’s see 🐺

@alwolf9: I guess next season he’s hoping to use the parachute payments

@bendoll1: Got it. So we need to basically stay put this summer and we can spend next year. That’s the real takeaway here. The mindset is – we spent a lot last year, we need to make do this year and then we can invest more. If that’s true, okay, but if it’s not, people will not be happy

@Ry4nH07: No more signings during the summer and likely to be nothing in the winter either then. A tone which suggests reliant on what we have and hopefully gets us through what is going to be a challenging season, even with £100m worth of player sales