Julen Lopetegui has every reason to applaud himself after the transformation of the Wolves' season Photo: PA/Barrington Coombs
Wolverhampton Wanderers have spent around £200m this season bringing in 12 new players, but their best signings are technical.
Julen Lopetegui is now close to "Mission Complete" on his goal of survival and delivered one of the most impressive jobs of the season that will go unnoticed.
Having inherited a club in November that was losing its identity, Lopetegui has changed results and mood to ensure Wolverhampton enter the next season with increased optimism about the future.
Wolverhampton will become only the fourth prime minister. League teams in last place by Christmas to avoid relegation.
Though Lopetegui refuses to get carried away, it will take a remarkable consistency of results to drag them back into the swamp.
Down for Christmas: who fell and who survived?
Other managers such as Mikel Arteta, Eddie Howe, Unai Emery and Roberto De Zerbi will have a much better chance of becoming manager of the year, but Lopetegui's influence cannot be overestimated.
When he was appointed, the Wolves did not was able to score in eight out of 15 league games — by far the worst record in the division.
Under Bruno Lage, the club seemed to be dreamwalking towards relegation due to fear that many players would not be able to respond to his methods .
Lopetegui, however, strongly rewarded the owners of the Fosun clubs for their six-year pursuit. With 27 points in 18 games since Tuesday's victory over Crystal Palace, he is eight points clear of the bottom three.
While Wolverhampton lacked the vibrancy and excitement of their best days under Nuno Espirito Santo, Lopetegui has created an efficient, cohesive team capable of delivering results.
Lopetegui took Wolverhampton from the bottom of the table to relative safety. Photo: AP/Rui Vieira
Perhaps the outside view of the Wolves is that their team was too good to lose, but the stats and data before Lopetegui only pointed to relegation. .
Confidence was low, and there were doubts that the unit would have enough morale to break out.
November 5 seems to be a turning point. Within days of Lopetegui's arrival, it was immediately clear that everyone from the players to the staff would be brought together.
He instilled a culture and environment that demanded constant improvement and high standards. The usual working days of the Spaniard and his staff are from 8:00 to 20:00 at the training base.
Most of the managers appointed in the middle of the season are unhappy with the fitness of the players, and Lopetegui has focused on this as a priority. Statistics showed Wolves covered more distance in his first five games than at any stage under Lage this season. A basic requirement, but absolutely necessary.
Lopetegui gets the Wolves out of trouble
There are also partnerships off the field, which was not always the case under previous Compton-based managers. Lopetegui is working closely with sporting director Matt Hobbs and the Wolves' performance in the January transfer window now seems to be crucial. Their transfer strategy was to have three options for each position and league experience was considered very important. Wolverhampton's best winter signing was Mario Lemina, a former Fulham and Southampton midfielder who was stolen from Nice for £9.5m. team, but Lopetegui already knew about him after Sevilla's Europa League match against West Ham last season. Other arrivals in January, including Joao Gomes and Pablo Sarabia, have played their part, and Diego Costa's improvement in recent months cannot be ignored. .jpg» />The excellent form of Diego Costa helped the Wolves to escape. Credit: Getty Images/Sam Bagnall
Lopetegui has also proven he has no time for inefficiency or past reputation. Raul Jimenez and Ryan Ait-Nouri have not even been on the bench in recent weeks. Lopetegui's job is always to react in training and prove him wrong, but their absence speaks for itself.
Gonzalo Guedes, bought in August from Valencia for £27.5m, failed to impress with his performance and attitude and was quickly sent on loan to Benfica. He is unlikely to return.
The Wolves are already gearing up for another busy summer and their Premier League status is almost guaranteed. They view changes in composition as natural evolution. Ruben Neves is likely to be targeted by clubs across Europe and Wolves will be reluctant to get in his way if an offer of around £40m is received.
A number of players with expired contracts, including Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore and Costa, are expected to leave, while Jimenez and Ait Nouri could be traded. Nelson Semedo, the former Barcelona defender, has a two-year contract option to be activated next month. At this stage it is clear that he will stay.
Wolves are excited about the prospect of what could be next season and players like Matheus Cunha and Matheus Nunez are likely to benefit from an adjustment period. Sasha Kalajdzic, the Austrian striker who suffered a cruciate ligament injury on his debut in September, is also seen as a key player next season.
The future looks bright under Lopetegui. There is a feeling that now that this difficult season is almost over, we can start planning for better times properly.
Wolves fans have been chanting for several months that under their "super" The club's manager will remain in the Premier League and they were right. He knows exactly what they need.
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