Wolves will be watching Birmingham City situation very closely for one clear reason | OneFootball

Wolves will be keeping a keen eye on Tommy Doyle at Birmingham City.

It has been a dismal start to the Premier League campaign for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Old Gold are locked at the bottom of the Premier League, with two points on the board after 11 matches, resulting in the sacking of Vitor Pereira and the subsequent hiring of Rob Edwards.

Wolves found themselves in a similar position this time last year, with three points after the same number of matches. However, the club no longer have access to the brilliance and inventiveness of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri to drag them away from trouble.

The simple fact of the matter is that Wolves are having to keep an eye on a potential Championship rebuild, should the drop come that they have had to work incredibly hard to avoid in recent seasons.

There is a man in the Birmingham City midfield who could be crucial to this, and the club will be watching the situation closely as the season progresses.

Wolves will be watching the Birmingham City situation closely

Tommy Doyle made the switch to Birmingham over the summer after he saw his game time become limited following Pereira's Molineux arrival last term.

The midfielder proved a classy operator during his last Championship spell with Sheffield United, and looked more than capable at Premier League level in spells at Wolves following his arrival in 2023.

Making the move across the Midlands, Doyle signed for the Blues on a season-long loan. Crucially, the deal contains a purchase guarantee, should Chris Davies' side achieve promotion to the Premier League - something that didn't seem too far-fetched given Birmingham's transfer dealings over the summer.

It took Doyle himself a while to really get going in a Blues shirt as well, with the midfielder appearing from the bench eight times throughout his 15 Championship appearances thus far. Though he has begun to assert himself in a much deeper role under Davies in recent weeks, starting all of Birmingham's last five.

With 44.17 successful passes per 90 and 4.31 successful long passes per 90, Doyle is beginning to dictate matches as he did in a Blades shirt. And with his stats up there with the Championship's best, Wolves will be desperate to keep hold of him should they drop a division come May. There has even been loose reports suggesting a January recall, something which might or might not be a possibility depending on a break clause in the loan agreement.

Tommy Doyle could prove essential for Wolves' Championship rebuild

Since reaching the quarter-final stage of the Europa League in 2020, Wolves fans have seen their best players leave Molineux each summer. Diogo Jota, Ruben Neves, Matheus Nunes, Pedro Neto, Cunha and Ait-Nouri make up the best to leave Wolves since that year, and there are many more capable Premier League operators to add to the list, with the likes of Nathan Collins, Max Kilman, Adama Traoré and more all moving on to pastures new.

Supporters have become increasingly disgruntled with owners, Fosun, with ambition in the transfer market not matching up with the volume of money brought in through sales. Extortionate season ticket prices have also added further fuel to the fire, with supporters paying prices that are "benchmarked" against other Premier League clubs, without the on-pitch progress to match.

The simple fact of the matter is that Wolves require a serious rebuild. The likes of Jørgen Strand Larsen, alongside midfield pairing Andre and Joao Gomes, will most certainly be added to the extensive departure list over the summer should relegation come, leaving a big hole in midfield that will need to be filled.

While yet to fully showcase it for Birmingham City, Doyle has proven that he can operate at an extremely high level in the Championship. And the chance to rebuild in the second tier with Wolves, before another crack at the Premier League should they win promotion, could just be the best option for a midfielder who has been unable to build any real consistency since his 2022/23 loan spell with Sheffield United came to an end.

A Molineux mass exodus next summer would leave Wolves with no choice but to start again from scratch - the appointment of Edwards may suggest that this plan is already in place. However, there could be a crucial cog already on their books. The trouble is that he is currently playing for one of their nearest and dearest in Birmingham City, who, in an open division, could still win promotion and activate their option on Doyle through the play-offs, you'd think.

The Old Gold will be keeping a keen eye on Birmingham's