Wolverhampton Wanderers look to be building some encouraging form under Gary O’Neil, after what was a difficult summer at Molineux.
The Old Gold fell victim to Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions, forcing the club to sell a host of talent for essential profit, without any cash to spare to replace them.
Subsequently, O’Neil has described his squad as being left “£80m short” of quality, however the deals sanctioned this summer proved to be stellar business by Fosun with reference to their need to generate profit.
It wasn’t the first time that Wolves have offloaded talent at an appropriate time, with one of last summer’s sales seeing his market value crash after being cashed in on at Molineux.
How much did Wolves sell Leander Dendoncker for?
In September 2022, it was announced that Wolves had sold midfielder Leander Dendoncker to Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
The Belgian was sold for a sum of £13m after spending four years associated with the Old Gold, beginning with a loan spell from Anderlecht in 2018.
Despite being a popular figure at Wolves, the versatile defence-minded maestro was ruthlessly shown the door after making 159 appearances in all competitions.
It was a difficult goodbye as they watched the midfielder join their rivals, but hindsight has revealed that Wolves struck gold by offloading the 28-year-old when they did last summer.
What is Leander Dendoncker worth now?
Receiving £13m for the midfielder just over a year ago has turned out as an excellent piece of business for the Old Gold, as his market value has dropped considerably in such a short amount of time.
Now valued at €6.4m (£5.5m), Dendoncker’s expected transfer value (xTV) has taken a declining turn in the 13 months following his Molineux exit, with his value decreasing month by month as highlighted by Football Transfers.
Leander Dendoncker xTV since leaving Wolves
Month/Year
Expected transfer value
10/2022
€17.2m (£14.9m)
12/2022
€15.6m (£13.5m)
01/2023
€15.4m (£13.3m)
03/2023
€14.2m (£12.3m)
05/2023
€13m (£11.2m)
07/2023
€10m (£8.6m)
09/2023
€7.8m (£6.7m)
10/2023
€6.4m (£5.5m)
Figures via Football Transfers
From October 2022 to October 2023, the combative gem’s value has seen a drop of around £7.5m as shown in the table above, reinforcing the success of Wolves’ sale.
The Belgian has been limited in his game time at Villa Park since his arrival, as the Villans welcomed fellow midfielder Boubacar Kamara to the fold in the same summer, with the Frenchman being the number one figure to partner Douglas Luiz in the engine room.
Throughout the 2022/23 campaign, the 28-year-old started just seven games in the entirety of the season, on the back of being a regular at Wolves with 30 appearances the term prior.
From game time to poor performances, things haven’t worked for Dendoncker in claret and blue, as highlighted by his drop in value and dip in performance.
Once lauded as an “absolute baller” by journalist Maxi Angelo, the Belgian contributed to no goals last season, compared to the four he had a hand in during the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, in which he scored two and assisted two for Wolves.
As per Sofascore, the Villa dud averaged one tackle and 1.2 ground duel wins per game for the Villans last term, a drop in his average of 1.4 tackles and 1.8 ground duels won in the league the season prior.
From reaching an xTV high of €26.2m (£22.7m) while at Molienux, to his value dropping dramatically since his departure, the Old Gold struck gold by bidding farewell to the former Anderlecht star last summer.
