21 Aug 2025 09:39:20
I think the Fosun want to sell Wolves rumour came from a comment made by TBR's Head of Football Finance Adam Williams. It was more of a Fosun are doing everything an owner would do in preparation for a sale rather than having any definitive knowledge beyond that. He also explained that Wolves were still looking for that minority investor but that was difficult as that route is saturated by a fair number of other Premier Clubs doing exactly the same.

It's probably not an unreasonable conclusion as Wolves have chipped away at their debt and financial imbalances over the last 4-5 years to get costs under control, he explained "they do have negative operating cash flow, as opposed to profit or loss, which includes non-cash expenses like amortisation but their position is actually one of the best in the division".

He also commented that spending has slowed down and the lack of significant growth in commercial and matchday income suggests that the club aren't particularly interested in investing in the infrastructure and stimulate growth, which is my primary gripe as it forces them to use player sales to make the money they need to keep the doors open.

Fosun have, however, converted about £100M of the clubs debt into equity but even that is probably a realisation that they won't get it back due to the Club's income imbalances so best to 'tidy up' the balance sheet for any potential sale or minority investor.

Personally, I have no burning desire for Fosun to sell up but recognise that if they persevere with their current approach we will eventually pay the price or at least spend endless seasons in the bottom half of the table and/or relegation battles while we get left behind financially due to lack of investment and growth.

I know some on here see Fosun as the club's saviour and we should be grateful, etc, etc but have we reached that point now where something just has to change for the good of the Club and by association the fans. Personally I can't see how a minority investment partner will happen as how would you get your money back, who would buy it and would it change anything? Just more kicking the can down the road.

So more mere survival and relegation scraps every season, at best or owners that will develop the Club and it least give it the opportunity for growth both on and off the pitch. What do we think, stick or twist?

1.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 11:28:07
This makes so much sense. After looking over the club finances for the last few years it does seem that they have acknowledged the requirement to reduce their operating costs. Unfortunately from the fans perspective that possibly looks like selling MANY players and replacing them with FEW, that's just the nature of the beast.

I feel as a club we may have become victims of our own success, high league finishes and Europe so quickly probably drove the need for investment in squad quality and even if Fosun had long term plans for infrastructure investment it dropped down the to do list.

Personally I think the Brentford approach to business probably suits us as a club, let's face it Wolverhampton isn't a tourist destination, we haven't got the best catchment area for academy players, and the ground location is limited for further expansion.

Regardless of whether they stick or twist, cutting their cloth accordingly should allow for less forced sales of our best players at under market value in the future and make us a much more attractive proposition to buyers/investors.

2.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 12:07:01
What I don't get is what are Fosun actually getting out of this? Why are they hanging on to our club? They, (Shi), dosnt even get 'football' preferring Esports apparently.
Do fosun make some financial gain from Wolves in China and the far east?
So why not jack it in if they cant/won't follow through on ground development etc?
Why are they effectively treading water? Are they simply waiting for a passing liner to throw them a line? Or am I missing something in my ignorance of the financial world.?

3.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 12:29:44
I get the premise I'm just not sure that I see anyone being interested in buying us to be honest. Development opportunities are limited at the club (for a number of reasons) none of which have been helped by the fact that Fosun have done VERY little to improve the infrastructure at the club! Even when people talk about other recent buy outs (Blues, Wrexham etc.) the end goal for those investors is establishing in the Prem, well we are already there so in REAL terms what goals would an investor hope to achieve with us?!
I notice that you compare us to Brentford Mol and how VERY telling that is! Despite having a ground almost twice the size of Brentfords and a much larger historical backing! In truth we should actually be more akin to Forest, in fact we were some years a head of them in Fosun early years. Look at Forest now, poached Edu off Arsenal and yet again signing an array of talent from across the globe and even managing to keep their best players. I say 'their' best player but he should have been our best player, mind you still some on here will try tell you we are well shot of Morgan despite him generally being seen as one of the most exciting talents in the Prem!
I notice we are even getting pundits predicting VP will walk again. I don't think it'll happen (more likely to just apply for other jobs) but how many other Prem clubs do you see people talking about the manager simply walking?!
I can't see Fosun selling any time soon but if they did then I'd take our chances. No doubt people will tell me 'beware the Bhatti brothers blah blah blah'. Without seeing the irony that the VERY fact they are worried about that tells you everything you need to know about Fosun, if you REALLY believe they'd sell us to a rouge owner then you clearly don't honestly think they have the clubs best interests at heart either do you?! You can't have it both ways I'm afraid, either they want the best for the club or it's all about profit?! ?

4.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 12:32:36
If you go onto the Company register it looks like they repaid back a couple of loans recently, so could be something or nothing in it.

5.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 12:41:08
ATM LMW I would stick. Until at least the end of this transfer window anyway as we have to take Shi at his word regarding his comments on focusing his attention more on us and make us more competitive. We're currently linked with another defender @ ~£30Mill and I suspect that won't be the end of it. I think (me included) get wound up by the clickbait. Players we've lost out on, players that won't come! How much is factual and how much is just complete rubbish we don't know. My long term concern with Fosun is investment in the ground and increasing revenue streams, which some may say go hand in hand. If you don't generate additional income other than TV revenue and gate receipts then in real terms you're standing still while others are progressing. It would and will certainly become more visible if/when The Blues get promoted. Both W Miss clubs showing great ambition while we get left behind when we were in such a great place.

6.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 12:53:01
Have to agree in Wolverhampton not being a tourist destination. There are some lovely places in the midlands for the players and family to visit though.

But at the end of the day you have to remember that the fifties was a long time ago.

I would love my club to be one of the elite, attracting big name players and have a ground that would be the equal or Spurs and Everton.

Who would have enough money and clout to do that? Maybe American dollars

So we carry on.

7.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 14:14:38
I assumed at first they brought Wolves to pedal other brands and products in the Fosun group to a new customer base. I think they naively thought they could get the club to be European contenders fairly cheaply and expose their other products more. That didn't work out and covid didn't help and affected other parts of the group.

They also saw Wolves as a brand they could grow beyond football and I think that was Jeff's remit and why they haven't sold yet. The one thing they're probably aware of is how much the club value differs between divisions. Only down the road the previous Albion owner lost a fortune on relegation and the only way Fosun can sell wolves as a successful investment is to sell with the club in the PL.

8.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 14:32:39
BullysBoy II there was absolutely no comparison made to Brentford, I simply stated 'Personally I think the Brentford approach to business probably suits us as a club' and as stated on here many times they are a well run club. Regardless of their stadium being half the size of ours their annual turnover is 94% of ours! This does beg the question is ground expansion the holy grail.

Whereas you have actually compared us to Forest, who are coming off the back of a great season in Europe, much like we were not so many years ago. That's a far easier sell to the 'array of talent from across the globe' as Wolves know only to well.

If you really want a straight comparison West Brom is closest, same geographical location, very similar ground size, heritage and historic success!

9.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 15:05:02
Fosun offered to regenerate the area around Molineux. Plans were submitted and included the Stadium plans that everyone saw, the purchasing of Asda so that the stadium could be expanded, the rerouting of the dual carriageway (plans that were actually signed off under Steve Morgans ownership).

The council agreed to everything put forward to the club. Asda agreed to rebuild a new site elsewhere. Wolverhampton Council refused to sell Molineux and the area immediately around it to Fosun so they were stuck.

Fosun then looked to move away from the current ground, identified the land but hey ho, the council wanted over the odds for it.

Thats why Fosun said recently that they need to reconfigure the Steve Bull stand. The council have put a number of blocks on the greater plans and Fosun have decided that they simply don't want to put the infrastructure in place that the fans crave.

10.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 17:05:43
So the lack of commercial and ground development at the club is the Council's fault? Where was the alternative site that the Council owned?

I always thought that the council were keen to redevelop that part of the town, including an avenue from the centre with a causeway over the ring road.

11.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 18:08:22
Every single club that's developed their stadium has had to deal with difficult councils. Just ask Everton who in the end have had to start from scratch! It's part and parcel of development and VERY convenient for Fosun to blame for their complete lack of work! Is it also the councils fault that we still have an uncovered, temporary stand which was as good as condemned under the current regime?!
I'm also a little confused as I'm pretty sure that when Morgan sold the club he did so we pre-approval to take the stadium up to 50k so not entirely sure how exactly the council could have recinded that?!

12.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 19:05:35
But if you want to continue blaming Fosun for absolutely everything then by all means carry on but remember, although they play their part, there are usually other factors at play.

Player doesn't want to sign for the club. How is that Fosuns fault?

13.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 19:03:16
Molineux and the land immediately outside is owned by the council.

Now if you wanted the land which is valued at £10m, would you pay the council £100m for it knowing that it is not worth it?

Or put another way, would you pay £100k for a car valued at £10k. I wouldn't.

14.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 19:44:10
You may be correct but the plans that Morgan had approved were very different to the ones Fosun submitted. Namely, Morgan just wanted to expand the current stadium and not the area around it hence the current North Bank. His plans did not include extending the Steve Bull stand out but to add another tier. Same with the other stands as the council would not concede the land unless for silly money.

15.) 21 Aug 2025
21 Aug 2025 21:35:29
Why would Fosun want or need to buy the land that Molineux sits on as the Council granted them a 999 year lease? Where was the alternative site Fosun wanted to buy because if it's the i54 site that is owned by a consortium of Wolverhampton, Staffs County and South Staffs Council.

Was it that consortium that tried to rip Fosun off?

16.) 22 Aug 2025
22 Aug 2025 06:36:51
Wandering star, you say how is ts Fosuns fault? By years of lack of or bad investments into the players. Which have now decimated the squad. The fact that they then decided or couldn't keep paying out for the last few seasons to keep strengthing. Whether it was getting too close to the FFP threshold or not, they chose not to back managers. So they walked because of promises broken. They have created a bad smell to many a manager and player out there.

When there ploughing in the bucks at the beginning and selling the dream every man and his dog bought into it. Now they have pulled the rug it's done a complete u turn and put all but a few off.

Forest success and every one saying look at the way they are now we should be the same. Yes. But they spent like mad on good players as we did. But they didn't sell there best china to pay the FFP fine, no they did well took the points hit, kept there players and carried on investing. Something we didn't do. Rightly or wrongly we played by the rules and we are where we are.

17.) 22 Aug 2025
22 Aug 2025 06:38:24
And the i54 talk was way back when Glen Hoddle was manager!

18.) 22 Aug 2025
22 Aug 2025 06:51:10
And if the council keeps clipping the wings of this or any future owners, we aren't going to fly very far. I find that hard to take though as the council are dead set, or were on massive regeneration for the city centre, and wouldn't a nice gleaming stadium and successful football team be the icing on the cake. It's more as some say Fosun had ideas to add to the portfolio to sell there other ventures. There business men bothered about one thing. Unless we have an owner dead set on growth and success and errr football, we will treadwater as we are, with them dripping enough to avoid relegation. As the championship is bad for future sale value, so untill they decided to sell its keeping plodding.
If VP gets tired of it, then I think we are in deep do do, as then really who wants the task!