# 2017–18 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. season

The 2017–18 season was the 140th in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the first under former FC Porto manager Nuno Espírito Santo who was appointed on 31 May 2017. The club competed in the English Football League Championship for the fourth consecutive and final year as well as the EFL Cup and the FA Cup.
The club led the league table on 31 October with a win against Norwich City and stayed put since then, both winning the title and gaining promotion to the Premier League after a 6-year absence with a tally of 99 points, the club's highest-ever in the second tier. The club recorded a pre-tax loss of £57.16 million in its season-concluded accounts published on 5 March 2019, of which around £20 million was for bonuses paid to its staff and players for achieving Premier League promotion. It also noted a deficit of more than a £1 million per week, making the loss more than double the value from the previous financial year.

## Matches
### Pre-season

Wolves began their pre-season training at their training ground on 26 June 2017 before playing six friendlies, included three during a stay in Austria.

### Football League Championship

A total of 24 teams competed in the EFL Championship in the 2017–18 season. Each team played every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Three points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. The provisional fixture list was released on 21 June 2017, but was subject to change in the event of matches being selected for television coverage or police concerns.

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P) | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 82 | 39 | +43 | 99 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Cardiff City (P) | 46 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 69 | 39 | +30 | 90 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 3 | Fulham (O, P) | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 79 | 46 | +33 | 88 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 72 | 42 | +30 | 83 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 45 | +22 | 76 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Statto.com

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | D | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | L |
| Position | 9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

### FA Cup

In the FA Cup, Wolverhampton Wanderers entered the competition in the third round and were drawn at home to Swansea City.

### EFL Cup
## Players
### Statistics

Key: ‡ On loan from another club * First appearance(s) for the club
* # = Squad number
* Pos = Playing position
* P = Number of games played 10
* G = Number of goals scored
* GK = Goalkeeper
* DF = Defender
* MF = Midfielder
* FW = Forward
* = Yellow cards
* = Red cards
* † Permanent player left club during the season
* ¤ Loaned to another club for part or all of season
Correct as of end of the season. Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances in parentheses where applicable.
| No. | Pos | Name | P | G | P | G | P | G | P | G | | |
| No. | Pos | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Carl Ikeme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Matt Doherty | 45 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | Barry Douglas | 38(1) | 5 | 1(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 39(3) | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | David Edwards † | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Alfred N'Diaye ‡ | 13(20) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17(20) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Ryan Bennett | 27(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31(2) | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Danny Batth | 15(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 20(1) | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Ivan Cavaleiro | 31(11) | 9 | 0(1) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 32(14) | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Rúben Neves | 42 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Nouha Dicko † | 0(5) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2(5) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Rafa Mir | 0(2) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Joe Mason ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Jordan Graham ¤ | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Ben Marshall ¤ | 1(5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4(5) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Harry Burgoyne | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Michał Żyro ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Willy Boly ‡ | 36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Conor Coady | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | Hélder Costa | 21(15) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24(15) | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Diogo Jota ‡ | 43(1) | 17 | 0(1) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 43(3) | 18 | 9 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Jack Price † | 0(5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4(5) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Benik Afobe ‡ | 7(9) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(9) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Connor Ronan ¤ | 0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(3) | 0 | 1(6) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | John Ruddy | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Phil Ofosu-Ayeh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Morgan Gibbs-White | 1(12) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(12) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Roderick Miranda | 16(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Bright Enobakhare | 5(16) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 1 | 9(17) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Romain Saïss | 37(5) | 4 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 37(7) | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | Rúben Vinagre ‡ | 8(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12(1) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | DF | Kortney Hause | 0(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Will Norris | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | Sylvain Deslandes ¤ | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | Léo Bonatini ‡ | 29(14) | 12 | 1(1) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 31(16) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | Pedro Gonçalves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | Donovan Wilson ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 1 | 0(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | Connor Johnson ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | Daniel Armstrong ¤ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | Oskar Buur | 0(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Awards

| Award | Winner |
| Fans' Player of the Season | Rúben Neves |
| Players' Player of the Season | Rúben Neves |
| Young Player of the Season | Morgan Gibbs-White |
| Academy Player of the Season | Ryan Giles |
| Goal of the Season | Rúben Neves (vs Derby County, 11 April 2018) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 31 May 2017 | Ryan Bennett | Unattached | Free |
| 13 June 2017 | Roderick Miranda | Rio Ave | Undisclosed |
| 20 June 2017 | Phil Ofosu-Ayeh | Unattached | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Kevin Berkoe | Chelsea | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Barry Douglas | Konyaspor | £1,000,000 |
| 1 July 2017 | Carlos Heredia | Milton Keynes Dons | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Ben Goodliffe | Boreham Wood | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Ray O'Sullivan | St. Kevin's Boys | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Enzo Sauvage | Nike Academy | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Terry Taylor | Aberdeen | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2017 | Callum Thompson | St. Joseph's Boys | Free |
| 8 July 2017 | Rúben Neves | Porto | £15,800,000 |
| 10 July 2017 | John Ruddy | Unattached | Free |
| 11 July 2017 | Will Norris | Cambridge United | Undisclosed |
| 18 July 2017 | Pedro Gonçalves | Valencia | Free |
| 18 July 2017 | Boubacar Hanne | Paços de Ferreira | Free |
| 24 August 2017 | Oskar Buur | Brabrand IF | Free |
| 31 August 2017 | José Xavier | Chaves | Free |
| 31 August 2017 | Ming-yang Yang | FC Winterthur | Undisclosed |
| 1 September 2017 | Diego Lattie | Liverpool | Free |
| 26 October 2017 | Benny Ashley-Seal | Unattached | Compensation |
| 3 January 2018 | Rafa Mir | Valencia | Undisclosed |
| 26 January 2018 | Andreas Søndergaard | Odense | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2018 | Tomás Reimão | Unattached | Free |
| 31 January 2018 | Ben Stevenson | Coventry City | Undisclosed |
| 1 February 2018 | Joseph Joseph | Southend United | Free |
* 1 2 Deal officially goes through on 1 July 2017
* 1 2 3 Released from Norwich City prior to joining Wolves.
* ↑ Released from Eintracht Braunschweig prior to joining Wolves.
* ↑ Released from Fiorentina prior to joining Wolves

### Loans in

| Date from | Player | From | Date until |
| 8 July 2017 | Willy Boly | Porto | End of season |
| 20 July 2017 | Rúben Vinagre | AS Monaco | End of season |
| 25 July 2017 | Diogo Jota | Atlético Madrid | End of season |
| 1 August 2017 | Léo Bonatini | Al-Hilal | End of season |
| 31 August 2017 | Alfred N'Diaye | Villarreal | End of season |
| 31 January 2018 | Benik Afobe | Bournemouth | End of season |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| 26 June 2017 | George Saville | Millwall | Undisclosed |
| 26 June 2017 | Jed Wallace | Millwall | Undisclosed |
| 30 June 2017 | James Henry | Released | Free |
| 30 June 2017 | Sílvio | Released | Free |
| 30 June 2017 | Mike Williamson | Released | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Brandon Ball | Released | Free |
| 1 July 2017 | Ben O'Hanlon | Released | Free |
| 3 July 2017 | Nyeko Sinclair | Released | Free |
| 14 July 2017 | Jón Daði Böðvarsson | Reading | £3,000,000 |
| 4 August 2017 | Regan Upton | Tamworth | Free |
| 11 August 2017 | Sam Phillips | Haughmond | Free |
| 26 August 2017 | David Edwards | Reading | £1,000,000 |
| 27 August 2017 | Andy Lonergan | Leeds United | Free |
| 29 August 2017 | Nouha Dicko | Hull City | £3,500,000 |
| 8 January 2018 | Jack Price | Colorado Rapids | Undisclosed |
| 10 January 2018 | Lee Evans | Sheffield United | Undisclosed |
* ↑ James Henry joined Oxford United following his release.
* ↑ Sílvio joined Braga following his release.
* ↑ Mike Williamson joined Oxford United following his release.
* ↑ Brandon Ball joined Stourbridge following his release.
* ↑ Ben O'Hanlon joined Harrogate Town following his release.
* ↑ Nyeko Sinclair joined Tamworth following his release.

### Loans out

| Date from | Player | To | Date until |
| 27 June 2017 | Jonathan Flatt | Cheltenham Town | End of season |
| 29 June 2017 | Paul Gladon | Heracles Almelo | End of season |
| 10 July 2017 | Nicu Carnat | Esbjerg | End of season |
| 14 July 2017 | Ethan Ebanks-Landell | Milton Keynes Dons | End of season |
| 14 July 2017 | Dominic Iorfa | Ipswich Town | End of season |
| 26 July 2017 | Niall Ennis | Shrewsbury Town | End of season |
| 31 July 2017 | Lee Evans | Wigan Athletic | End of season |
| 1 August 2017 | Aaron Hayden | Telford United | End of season |
| 3 August 2017 | Aaron Simpson | Telford United | End of season |
| 4 August 2017 | Duckens Nazon | Coventry City | January 2018 |
| 23 August 2017 | Joe Mason | Burton Albion | January 2018 |
| 29 August 2017 | Will Randall | Forest Green Rovers | End of season |
| 30 August 2017 | Jordan Allan | Airdrieonians | January 2018 |
| 31 August 2017 | Ryan Leak | The New Saints | January 2018 |
| 31 August 2017 | Jordan Graham | Fulham | End of season |
| 31 August 2017 | Jack Ruddy | Oldham Athletic | January 2018 |
| 5 September 2017 | Connor Johnson | Telford United | End of season |
| 15 September 2017 | Ross Finnie | Gloucester City | 15 October 2017 |
| 3 January 2018 | Aaron Collins | Newport County | End of season |
| 4 January 2018 | Prince Oniangué | Angers | End of season |
| 5 January 2018 | Connor Ronan | Portsmouth | End of season |
| 5 January 2018 | Sylvain Deslandes | Portsmouth | End of season |
| 11 January 2018 | Ryan Leak | Telford United | End of season |
| 11 January 2018 | Donovan Wilson | Port Vale | End of season |
| 12 January 2018 | Jack Ruddy | Ayr United | End of season |
| 22 January 2018 | Michał Żyro | Charlton Athletic | End of season |
| 26 January 2018 | Duckens Nazon | Oldham Athletic | End of season |
| 26 January 2018 | Andrew Sealey-Harris | Farnborough | End of season |
| 31 January 2018 | Daniel Armstrong | Dunfermline | End of season |
| 31 January 2018 | Ben Marshall | Millwall | End of season |
| 31 January 2018 | Aaron Simpson | Kilmarnock | End of season |
| 31 January 2018 | Ben Stevenson | Colchester United | End of season |
| 1 February 2018 | Christián Herc | FC DAC 1904 | End of season |
| 2 February 2018 | Harry Beasley | Stourbridge | 3 March 2018 |
| 4 February 2018 | Daniel McKenna | Bray Wanderers | End of season |
| 20 February 2018 | Joe Mason | Colorado Rapids | October 2018 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Player was recalled in January 2018