Manchester United vs Wolves: How Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have managed to overtake the Red Devils in just three years

The Premier League is back this weekend as sides look to claim as many points as they can before the winter break.

And that also means Premier League GameDay is back on talkSPORT, with three live matches on our network this Saturday.

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Our final Saturday clash sees Manchester United entertain Wolves, with both sides level on points going into the contest, perfectly demonstrating the respective directions both clubs have gone in recent years.

Man United have clearly struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and are currently experiencing something of an identity crisis under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and embattled executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Meanwhile, Wolves have been on the up and have hugely benefited from their relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes, who has clients including manager Nuno Espirito Santo and players Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Diogo Jota.

They won promotion to the Premier League in 2017/18, his first season in charge, and have been on the up ever since.

And marvelbet369.com has taken a look at how much things at Man United and Wolves have changed since the summer of 2017.

Style of play

To build a good team, you need a playing style that the players are used to. Man United do not have that while Wolves certainly do.

Under Jose Mourinho, Man United tended to play a 4-2-3-1 formation. They played that system in their opening 2017/18 Premier League match against West Ham, with £75million signing Romelu Lukaku up top. The game finished 4-0 to the Red Devils.

Mourinho's United sides had a tendency to be a lot more defensive against stronger opposition which irked fans and pundits.

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They changed things the following season with a 4-3-3 formation in an attempt to get more goals.

However, Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 leading to a new manager. There wasn't a change in formation for Solskjaer's first match though which saw them beat Cardiff 5-1.

The Norwegian could do no wrong when he first started but that faded shortly after he got the job permanently and, with Lukaku's departure and subsequent injury issues, they seem to have gone back to a 4-2-3-1. Man United have also tried Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford as a front two as well with limited success.

It's a different story for Wolves, however, who have essentially played the same formation since Espirito Santo arrived.

The Portuguese's first competitive match in charge saw them play a 3-4-3 system against Middlesbrough in the Championship. Wolves won 1-0.

They got promoted to the top flight but continued with the same 3-4-3 formation in 2018/19.

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Wolves' first match of this season saw them play a 3-5-2 as they were playing away at Leicester. 3-5-2 is a similar premise to 3-4-3 but Wolves are slightly more cautious when playing the difficult matches.

It's a formation which has allowed the likes of Matt Doherty, Jonny, Ruben Neves, and Joao Moutinho to thrive, while Conor Coady's career has been completely rejuvenated and saw many pundits calling for him to be capped by England.

The system gets the best out of the players at Espirito Santo's disposal.

Transfers in

Man United and Wolves have had contrasting fortunes in terms of their recruitment too.

The Red Devils bought Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez in 2017/18. None of them made the desired impact and Lukaku, who was probably the best of that group, no longer plays for the club.

But if you thought that was bad, their business in 2018/19 was woeful. They forked out over £50million for midfielder Fred, who has looked out of his depth until recent weeks, while Diogo Dalot has struggled to establish himself in the first-team.

Mourinho also wanted a new centre-back but Ed Woodward was unable to get a deal for Harry Maguire done.

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They did get Maguire a year later along with right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James. All of them have been useful acquisitions but didn't come cheap and Man United fans would accept that Maguire hasn't looked worth the astronomical fee.

Wolves, on the other hand, have made a lot of smart, smaller investments, with some of it thanks to their relationship with Mendes.

They didn't make too many permanent signings in 2017/18, Neves the standout player but the loan signings of Jota, Wily Boly, Ruben Vinagre, Benik Afobe and Leo Bonatini undoubtedly helped their promotion charge.

Premier League status led to these loan signings joining permanently while Jonny, Adama Traore, Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho also joined. There were also some shrewd loan deals of defensive midfielder Leander Dendoncker and striker Raul Jimenez, who fired in 17 goals last term and has been equally as impressive this season.

Jimenez and Dendoncker then joined permanently last summer, while Wolves also forked out £16m on Pedro Neto, who is just starting to get some form together.

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Transfers out

In terms of players leaving, it's more painful reading for Man United.

They've been effective at getting rid of the deadwood - Henrikh Mkhitaryan leaving in 2017/18, Daley Blind and Marouane Fellaini in 2018/19 as well as Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian last summer.

However, they've also let key players go too and failed to adequately replace them. Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both left in the summer of 2018. Yes, they're both ageing players but both of them went off for free.

Last summer was criminal, letting their best goalscorer in Lukaku go and failing to find a replacement, while midfielder Ander Herrera left on a free.

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Chris Smalling was also allowed to join Roma on loan but he's excelling in Italy. Man United could have done with him at the back this season.

Again, Wolves have been smarter as they haven't let key players leave to help them improve.

Players including Afobe and Barry Douglas left the summer before their first Premier League match in 2018/19 but these were not huge losses to them.

They received a tidy fee from Fulham for Ivan Cavaleiro and have also sent the likes of Bonatini and Costa on loan as Espirito Santo fine tunes his squad for their top four pursuit.

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Money spent

Unsurprisingly, Man United have spent much more than Wolves but the latter club's finances have gone a lot further.

In 2017, Man United spent £75m on a player who left two years later in Lukaku, and their other three signings in Matic, Lindelof and Sanchez have failed to live up to their price tags.

The majority of their transfer budget was spent on signing £53m Fred last season. That says it all.

They have spent just shy of £150m this term and as already mentioned Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and James have been good on the whole. However, Maguire is the world's most expensive defender at £80m and is not near the level of previous record holder Virgil van Dijk.

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Wolves spent just £22.5m in 2017/18 but £16m of that went on playmaker Ruben Neves, who is comfortably worth more than that now. The loan investments were key in taking them up to the top flight too.

Added revenue comes with Premier League football and Wolves spent over £100m in 2018/19, with most of that going on the likes of Jota, Jonny, Traore and Patricio who are all key players to the squad now. They also managed to pinch Moutinho for just £5m, an absolute bargain.

Slightly less has been spent this term and a large chunk of that was used to sign Jimenez and Dendoncker permanently. Their only failed signing so far this season has been Patrick Cutrone.

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Money made

Man United lead the way in money made in transfers by some distance but you wonder if some of their departures were a bit premature, while they could have got more money for others.

They made just shy of £41m in 2017/18 with Mkhitaryan leaving for Arsenal, while Rooney and Ibrahimovic left in the same season.

The Red Devils got decent money the following year too but made a loss when letting Fellaini go to the Chinese Super League for £6.48m, which is £20m under what they paid for him in 2013.

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Meanwhile, more than half of Man United's money made on transfers since 2017/18 came through the sale of Lukaku to Inter Milan for £67m. The Belgian was let go far too soon as goals have been very difficult to come by this season.

Wolves have allowed many players who don't have a future at the club to leave but have not made as much money as Man United.

That's mainly because they haven't sold their top players since Espirito Santo took over, instead they have been getting nice little injections for players like Afobe and Cavaleiro which will help boost their transfer budget.

Premier League points

It's putting points on the board that will lead to success in the Premier League and it's clear Man United are on a worrying decline.

After 24 games last season, they were on 45 points but are only on 34 at the same stage this term.

Wolves are a club on the rise but are actually a point behind where they were last term so there are improvements to be made.

But whatever happens on Saturday, the feeling Man United and Wolves supporters have about their respective clubs is unlikely to change.

Saturday is GameDay on talkSPORT as we bring you THREE live Premier League commentaries across our network including Manchester United vs Wolves at 5:30pm