Since Fosun finished buying the team in 2016, Wolverhampton Wanderers have had both success and failure in the transfer market.
They arrived to the Molineux stadium with the team in the Championship, and so far throughout their stay in the Midlands, they have presided over a promotion to the Premier League and European appearances.
The Wolves owners have occasionally been ready to blow the dough to sign top talent in an effort to strengthen the team, as you can see in the table above. They should be congratulated for their desire during the time they have owned the club, even though it hasn’t always paid off.
Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided the Old Gold to promotion in 2018, had a great tenure in charge and was involved in several fruitful transfers.
To sign Jesus Corona in 2020, the Portuguese head coach made one transaction in particular that might have been a major mistake.
Jesus Corona piqued the interest of the wolves.
In the summer of 2020, A Bola through Sport Witness revealed that Wolves was interested in a move to capture the winger from Porto to improve their attacking options.
According to the report, the Portuguese powerhouses rejected the Premier League team’s offer of up to €24 million (£21 million), asking instead for €30 million (£26 million).
They were not willing to sell their star forward unless a club came in and paid his €30 million release clause, and Wolves appeared unwilling to do so as he stayed with Porto for the 2020–21 season.
Interesting enough, despite Diogo Jota’s signing to Liverpool, the club did not go on to sign a replacement winger during that summer’s transfer window.
Why was Jesus Corona appealing to the wolves?
Santo made an attempt to sign the Mexico international after the gifted ace had a successful 2019–20 campaign in Portugal and, on paper, looked like he would be a great addition to the team.
Prior to Wolves’ £18 million offer, he had notched up an impressive four goals and 21 assists in 51 appearances for Porto in all competitions.
In 33 league starts, Corona achieved an outstanding average Sofascore rating of 7.17 while he assisted in the scoring of 11 goals and created 13 “big chances” for his teammates.
His performance during the 2018–19 league season, which included 34 games, resulted in nine assists and 11 “big chances” generated.
These numbers demonstrate how the Porto star routinely produced outstanding opportunities for his fellow attackers from a wide position as he established himself as a reliable creative threat.
The 2019–20 Premier League season had no Wolves player record more than nine assists, and the previous season, Joao Moutinho led all players with eight.
How did Jesus Corona fare?
The Porto forward had a difficult 2020–21 campaign as Santo failed to win a £21 million agreement for the Mexican genius’s signature in 2020.
In 48 games across all competitions, Corona scored three goals and provided 13 assists, with zero goals and three assists in ten Champions League appearances.
This indicates that he had a direct hand in nine less goals than the 25 he helped the Portuguese team score during the previous campaign.
The Mexican international had a poor start to the 2021/22 season after that, appearing in 18 games for Porto without scoring a goal or providing an assist.
These numbers demonstrate a sharp decline in his productivity near the top of the pitch. Corona transitioned from being a consistent threat in the last third, scoring goals and dishing out assists, to rarely making a game-changing or game-winning contribution from a wide position.
His decline in performance during the 18 months that followed Wolves’s interest culminated in a transfer to Sevilla in Spain during the January 2022 transfer window.
What was Sevilla’s price for Jesus Corona?
According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the LaLiga team signed Corona from Porto for €3 million (£2.6 million) before the start of the 2021–2022 season.
This indicates that the 30-year-old forward’s worth has decreased from the £21 million Wolves appeared willing to shell out to sign him in 2020.
The Mexican magician’s claimed value was £18.4 million less after 18 months than Santo and Fosun’s reported proposal to bring him to England.
This means that in his unsuccessful attempt to recruit Corona, the former Wolves manager saved the club from making a costly error. The player’s on-field performance declined, and his worth also decreased.
In light of his post-2019/20 form for Porto, the Old Gold would have thus signed a player who would not have much improved the team’s performance and who, had they later sold him for £2.6 million or a price close to that, would have caused them to lose millions.
What has become of Jesus Corona?
The 30-year-old forward is now playing for Monterrey in his native Mexico as of the time of writing (06/10/2023), and since his transfer during the summer transfer window, he has made three appearances and assisted one goal.
After a less-than-impressive stint with Sevilla in Spain, where he failed to regain the Porto form that piqued Wolves’ interest in him in 2020, he returned to Mexico.
In 28 games in all competitions for the Spanish team, Corona scored three goals and produced four assists, including three goals and four assists in 24 LaLiga matches.
His statistics since Santo’s unsuccessful attempt to recruit him demonstrate that the Old Gold avoided a major mistake ahead of the 2020–21 season, and the former Wolfpack manager will undoubtedly breathe a sigh of relief when reflecting on that.
In the upcoming months and perhaps years, new manager Gary O’Neil, who took over for Julen Lopetegui over the summer, will be hoping to avoid any missteps in the transfer market.
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