Gary O'Neil is doing a tremendous job at Wolverhampton Wanderers given he inherited a squad that was significantly weakened this summer as the club had to asset strip to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
With the sales of star talents Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes, in particular, expected to contribute to their plight, the Old Gold have fought back in the face of adversity by beating Manchester City and registering a point against rivals Aston Villa.
While an upturn in form has done wonders to lift the mood around Molineux, Wolves can still be punished for their lack of astute business and non-existent planning in the transfer window as years of overspending on underwhelming talent is coming back to bite them.
Although a bleak outlook on their transfer business is a present reality, their exceptional transfer window following their promotion in 2018 suggests the club are capable of being meticulous and accurate with their recruitment.
In what will go down as one of their greatest-ever windows, Wolves brought in the likes of Rui Patricio, Will Boly, Jonny Otto, Joao Moutinho, Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez, a sextet that played a major role in their rise to Europa League stardom.
Jonny Otto (Atletico Madrid)
(£18m)
Adama Traore (Middlesbrough)
(£17.3m)
Rui Patricio (Sporting CP)
(£15.5m)
Diogo Jota (Atletico Madrid)
(£12.1m)
Willy Boly (FC Porto)
£10.3m)
Benik Afobe (Bournemouth)
£9.8m
All fees sourced via FootballTransfers
Remarkably, Nuno Espirito Santo could have added another quality star that summer if he had managed to prize Oleksandr Zinchenko away from Manchester City.
Did Wolves come close to signing Oleksandr Zinchenko?
On their return to the Premier League, Wolves were splashing the cash presented to them by wealthy Chinese owners Fosun to ensure their impact in the top flight was an instant one.
The high level of talent they were eyeing up was unheard of from a newly-promoted side, outlining their ambitions to be more than just relegation strugglers by attempting to break their transfer record to sign Zinchenko for £16m, as per Sky Sports.
Despite being given the go-ahead by manager Pep Guardiola to finalise the deal, it was reported that Zinchenko wanted to stay in Manchester and fight for his place.
Indeed, the Ukraine international declined the opportunity to have a medical at Wolves and instead became a fan favourite at the Etihad as he helped the Citizens to four Premier League titles and four Carabao Cup triumphs.
He left the serial winners to join the title challengers in the summer of 2022, linking up with his former assistant manager Mikel Arteta in a £32m move to Arsenal.
How good is Oleksandr Zinchenko now?
Described by Guardiola as "incredible" after becoming one of the unsung heroes in City's title-winning machine, Zinchenko made 128 appearances at the Etihad across five years, showcasing why Wolves were desperate to capture him in 2018.
A deep-lying playmaker for his country and a sensational attacking full-back for his club, the 26-year-old has combined both of those roles to devastating effect at Arsenal, showcasing his importance in the Gunners' build-up phase.
While his fearlessness and technical guile helped Man City hoover up silverware, it is now helping transform Arteta's side, being deployed in a central role as a left back rather than a supporting one.
Zinchenko tucks into midfield when Arsenal are attacking, smothering opponents and picking them apart with his astute passing range.
It is those technical attributes that saw Kyle Walker label him in City's top three best players technically while Guardiola praised him for the intelligence required to play that role, saying: "He is so, so smart."
Zinchenko is quintessentially a playmaker from left back and this is demonstrated by how highly he compares against his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues, ranking in the top 1% for progressive passes, top 4% for pass completion, top 5% for passes into the penalty area and carries into the final third in the past year, via FBref.
For comparison, Wolves' current starting left Rayan Ait-Nouri possesses nowhere near the same technical qualities as the Ukraine international, falling significantly lower for pass completion (top 40%), progressive passes (top 52%) and passes into the penalty area (top 87%).
In terms of being an exceptional ball-carrier, capable of driving O'Neil's side up the field, the Frenchman is certainly that, finishing within the top 3% for successful take-ons, top 13% for fouls drawn and top 20% for carries into the penalty area, however, with the signing of Zinchenko, the Old Gold would have seen their attacking output down the left flank skyrocket.