Liam Keen comment: Wolves rolling the dice with lack of summer business

The club have so far brought just two new players in and to this point have only played with one in pre-season, as Jhon Arias joined up with the team today (Thursday).

From a squad that has lost important players like Matheus Cunha, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo - and to a lesser extent Pablo Sarabia - that is not enough.

Results in pre-season are not important, but in four matches Wolves are yet to win and have lost two. More alarmingly, across those four matches, performances have shown there is clearly work to do.

Some disillusioned fans have begun to surmise that Wolves will not bring any more signings in at all this summer, but that is not the case.

The club is confident that they will get the signings that Vitor Pereira needs and are they targeting four more additions - at both wing-back positions, a new midfielder and another forward.

However, the timing of these deals is far from ideal.

Pereira, like all managers, wanted his squad ready for pre-season. Wolves rarely have that in place, but the summer trend of late August deals serves no-one.

The new signings have less time to adapt, the head coach has to navigate early fixtures without a complete squad and the club may end up overpaying for players later in the window.

As last season showed, we know what a bad start to the campaign can do to a team and Wolves must avoid that.

There is a wider issue here beyond Wolves, as many clubs such as Everton and Crystal Palace are also struggling to bring players in, while some of the big six spend hundreds of millions. Overcoming that is no easy task for Fosun and Wolves bosses.

The attempted signing of Marc Pubill, that was hijacked by Atletico Madrid, was disappointing for many reasons. However, it also shows Wolves are trying to sign the right players if a club of that size were also keen.

On top of that, part of the reason for that transfer falling apart was due to the demands of Pubill's representatives. They were attempting to include clauses that Wolves felt showed a lack of commitment to the project at the club.

Wolves and Pereira want players that are keen to be here and are chasing the right personalities as well as the right footballers. That is essential and Pereira is showing no signs of walking away like Julen Lopetegui did two seasons ago. He has already so in an interview with the Express & Star.

But by not buying Pubill, Wolves also missed out on a signing in a position they desperately need an addition in and everyone with a loyalty to Wolves will still be frustrated at the lack of business - meaning performances such as the one against Lens will only exacerbate that.

Wolves actually started the game well at Walsall's Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium, with some high pressing and threat down the wings. Unlike the start of the Stoke friendly, Wolves looked up for this one.

Fer Lopez and Jorgen Strand Larsen combined well on occasions and Ki-Jana Hoever was dangerous at right-wing-back with endless attacking runs that were often found by cross-field passes.

The first half ended with a bit of a lull, but at 0-0 there was little to worry about.

But the second half offered little to like about Wolves' performance and, in particular, their defensive fragility.

Two of the three goals came down Wolves' left. First Hugo Bueno failed to stop a cross and a far post finish followed, before Rodrigo Gomes also failed in his defensive duties and a near post goal was the result.

The goals were carbon copies of each other in the way Lens attacked Wolves' left and Pereira's side could not deal with it.

Goncalo Guedes' strike did get Wolves back into it at 2-1, but they conceded a third instantly, in another worrying trend from last season.

Some of the small positives saw Jean-Ricner Bellegarde have a creative game as he looked more comfortable as a left number 10, while Joao Gomes put in a battling midfield display.

But Wolves ended the match with a midfield two of Tawanda Chirewa and Marshall Munetsi - a damning indictment for any Premier League team.

Wolves face Manchester City and Everton at home, either side of Bournemouth away, in their first three top flight fixtures before the transfer window closes.

It is more than possible that Pereira can get a tune out of this current squad to get enough points in those matches - and it is also fair to say that three games will not define the season.

Context is also important and recent performances have only been in pre-season, which is the time to make your mistakes.

However, Wolves' delay in getting signings in this summer is a roll of the dice that understandably has everyone on edge.