Wolves hit transfer bullseye with £2m Arsenal deal | OneFootball

Wolves £2m agreement with Arsenal for Benik Afobe turned out to be shrewd business, and the club also made a profit on him again in the future.

The new squad cost ratio rules in place will put greater emphasis on clubs doing smart transfer business, and recent history suggests that could be a problem for Wolves.

Wolves’ steady decline over the past few years has been primarily down to the poor deals they have done, which reduced the quality in the squad, and the 2025/26 summer window will go down as one of the worst in their history. Those involved in that window have lost their jobs, but there will be a spotlight on the new regime over the coming months.

But, like all clubs, Wolves did get a lot right in the past, and one player who brought the club profit - and delivered on the pitch - was Benik Afobe.

Benik Afobe was a smart investment for Wolves

There was a lot of excitement at Wolves heading into the January window in 2015.

After humiliating back-to-back relegations, Wolves had a fresh start under Kenny Jackett in League One, and they won the title with relative ease. The following season, Wanderers were in the mix to go up again, and with Nouha Dicko and Bakary Sako, they had a lot of attacking talent.

However, they were lacking another quality striker to make the difference, but that changed when Afobe arrived from Arsenal in a £2m deal.

Having impressed on loan with MK Dons, it was clear Afobe was ready for a step-up, but he was never going to play for the Gunners, so a move to Molineux looked like the right fit on paper.

That’s exactly how it played out as well, with Afobe scoring 13 goals in 21 goals, but, sadly for Wolves, they missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

It turned out to be a major missed opportunity for Wolves. Sako’s contract expiring meant he left on a free, and Dicko featured just five times in the 2016/17 season after suffering a serious knee injury.

So, the devastating attacking trio had been ripped apart, and Afobe would leave just days short of his one-year anniversary at Wolves.

To his credit, Afobe kept scoring goals, netting nine times in 25 games in a Wolves side that were in mid-table.

Such form had convinced Bournemouth that Afobe was ready to play at a higher level, and a fee was agreed for around £10m, which saw Wolves make a chunky profit on the player.

Benik Afobe played his part in helping Wolves reach the Premier League

However, Afobe’s story with Wolves wasn’t over. After struggling with the Cherries, and gradually dropping down the pecking order, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side brought him back to the club on an initial loan in January 2018.

Whilst that Wolves side is widely regarded as one of the best to have played in the second tier, they were lacking a proper number nine, with Leo Bonatini having struggled after a fast start.

So, the move for Afobe made sense, and he scored six times in 16 games to help Wanderers return to the Premier League.

Even though there were doubts about his ability to score regularly in the top flight, many expected Afobe to play some sort of role in the squad moving forward, and the deal was made permanent.

But, in a surprising twist, less than two weeks later, Afobe was off, as he joined Stoke for £12m, which meant the club made another £2m profit on the player.

That was an example of Nuno’s ruthless nature, with the Portuguese squad also discarding Barry Douglas, another popular figure, after promotion.

In hindsight though, there’s no denying that it was the right call. Whilst Afobe’s life was hit by personal tragedy, he could never replicate the form he had shown at Wolves later in his career.

He never really settled at Stoke, and a host of loan moves followed, with Afobe going to Bristol City, Trabzonspor and Millwall, with the latter the only time he showed signs of getting back to his best, but a permanent switch to The Den didn’t work out.

In 2023, Afobe moved to Hatta in the UAE, and he has also played in Qatar, with the striker still only 33-years-old.

So, his time at a high level in this country is over, and Afobe will no doubt look back on his time at Wolves as the place where he played the best football in his career.

It was a shame for him the way his time at Molineux ended, but Nuno’s decision was vindicated as the club kicked on. But, Afobe will always be appreciated by the fans for his performances across two stints in Old Gold, and he was a great example of a transfer working out very well for Wolves on two occasions.