It is perhaps quite easy to forget that Ryan Bennett was the first signing of the Nuno Espirito Santo revolution at Wolves.
After all, the rise of the Portuguese and Jorge Mendes influence has certainly caught the eye in the Premier League, but Bennett’s arrival kick-started Wolves’ staggeringly quick transition from competing in the Championship, to competing in Europa League football this year.
The defender signed for the club on a free transfer after being released by Norwich, with Kevin Thelwell speaking glowingly at the time of his arrival. He said: “He’s got a lot of experience. He’s played in the Championship which is important, but he’s also played in the Premier League. I think he’s been unfortunate to not play as games as he should have done at Norwich. With him being out of contract, he seems like a really solid take for us.”
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And having played 92 total games for the club since, he has proven himself to be a key part of Wolves’ success in recent seasons. But his game-time this year was far more limited – indeed, after starting the first four games of the Premier League campaign, Bennett completed the full 90 minutes just once after that before leaving the club in January to join fellow top-flight side Leicester on loan.
To put it bluntly, Nuno’s side have just developed to such an extent that they are better than Bennett’s abilities. The Molineux outfit currently find themselves sixth in the Premier League table, just five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. It isn’t a personal slight on the centre-back himself, but rather an indication of how quickly Wolves have grown in such a short amount of time.
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The fact he hasn’t even made the match-day squad for Leicester speaks volumes of how he just isn’t quite good enough. It is exactly why Fosun and Nuno should make the tough decision to let go of a player who was there with them when they were still a team in the Championship – Bennett played a huge role in their promotion-winning campaign, playing 33 times across all competitions.
Wolves should be targeting bigger and better players now that they are dining among the top tables, and sadly for the £4.5m-rated Bennett, that means his time at the club should be up this summer. Having joined on a free transfer, helped the team get promoted, and played 92 total games, the centre-back has shown that he is very much a Thelwell masterstroke. But the time has now come for him to make his exit.
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