It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare, whose footballing journey has taken him from the Belgian Pro League’s summit to the unforgiving spotlight of the English Premier League. As the 2025-2026 season gets underway, Arokodare’s fortunes—and those of his new club, Wolverhampton Wanderers—have come under intense scrutiny after a rocky start that’s left fans and pundits alike asking tough questions about summer recruitment, player adaptation, and the high-wire act of Premier League survival.
Arokodare’s name has been splashed across European transfer headlines for months. After lighting up the Belgian league with KRC Genk, where he bagged 19 goals in 34 appearances to top the scoring charts, the 24-year-old became a hot commodity. His transformation from a struggling loanee at FC Köln—where he failed to score in 10 Bundesliga appearances during the 2020/21 campaign—to a prolific marksman in Belgium was nothing short of remarkable. It’s that turnaround which first caught the eye of Bayern Munich, who, according to fußballtransfers.com, have begun exploratory discussions for a potential €25 million transfer. Bayern, operating under a tighter financial framework, see Arokodare as a cost-effective backup to Harry Kane, but they’re not alone in their interest: Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart are also reportedly monitoring the striker’s progress. Genk, for their part, have set a €25 million price tag and hold Arokodare under contract until 2027, with the player earning a reported €1.5 million annually.
But before any move to Bavaria or elsewhere could materialize, Arokodare found himself at the center of Wolves’ summer rebuild. The West Midlands club, desperate to bolster their squad after a spate of departures, brought in six new faces during the transfer window: Fer Lopez, Jhon Arias, David Moller Wolfe, Jackson Tchatchoua, Ladislav Krejci, and Arokodare himself. Jorgen Strand Larsen’s loan was also made permanent. Notably, none of these signings had previous Premier League experience—a gamble that now looks increasingly risky as the new season unfolds.
The latest chapter in Arokodare’s story was written on September 20, 2025, at Molineux Stadium. Making his home debut for Wolves, the Nigerian forward started up front in a must-win clash against Leeds United. Hope flickered early as Ladislav Krejci opened his account for the club, giving Wolves a precious lead. But defensive frailties were soon exposed, with Leeds striking three times before halftime. Despite Wolves’ efforts to claw their way back, they fell 3-1, extending their losing streak to five games and anchoring them to the foot of the Premier League table with zero points.
“The lack of quality on show was laid bare,” reported BBC Sport, highlighting how Wolves’ new recruits have struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of English football. Club insiders have conceded that their recruitment plan could have been sharper. “The order in which they arrived could have been better, targeting priority positions sooner to help the settling-in process and therefore improving performances,” sources told BBC Sport. The absence of a natural midfielder, in particular, has been flagged as a major oversight, despite Krejci’s versatility.
Wolves’ director of professional football, Domenico Teti, along with Jeff Shi, Jorge Mendes, Valdir Cardoso, and Pereira, oversaw the summer overhaul. While Jeff Shi publicly declared the window a success, the early returns have been sobering. The new signings, thrust into action with little Premier League experience or pre-season integration, have struggled to find their footing. Only Lopez and Arias had significant pre-season involvement, leaving the rest to adapt on the fly as the pressure mounts.
For Arokodare, the Premier League baptism has been harsh. Despite his scoring exploits in Belgium, he’s yet to find the net in England, and his inability to influence the outcome against Leeds reflected the broader challenges facing Wolves. The defeat was particularly galling given the club’s urgent need for points and momentum. “Arokodare’s first taste of Premier League football in front of Wolves supporters ended in defeat,” noted Naija News, underscoring the striker’s disappointing home debut.
The struggles of Arokodare mirror those of another Super Eagles forward, Victor Boniface, who endured a tough weekend in Germany. Boniface came on at halftime for Werder Bremen in a 3-0 home loss to Freiburg, unable to spark a turnaround for his side. Across Europe, Nigerian internationals experienced mixed fortunes: Christantus Uche remained on the bench as Crystal Palace edged West Ham, while Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina were absent from Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw at Burnley—Awoniyi battling for minutes, Aina sidelined until December following surgery. Kevin Akpoguma saw late action for Hoffenheim in a heavy loss to Bayern Munich, where Harry Kane starred with a hat-trick.
Back in Wolverhampton, the mood is tense. The club’s recruitment strategy, once seen as bold, is now being questioned as a high-stakes gamble that risks the team’s Premier League status. “It is hard not to conclude that Wolves have totally gambled with their Premier League status,” observed local analysts, pointing to the lack of experienced signings and the slow integration of new arrivals. With five losses from five, the pressure on manager Gary O’Neil and the club’s hierarchy is mounting by the day.
Meanwhile, Arokodare’s future remains a hot topic not just in Wolverhampton, but across Europe. With Bayern Munich and other Bundesliga clubs circling, his performances in the coming weeks could determine whether he remains at Molineux or embarks on another chapter in his peripatetic career. For now, though, his focus—and that of his teammates—must be on reversing Wolves’ fortunes before the season slips further out of reach.
As the Premier League campaign rumbles on, all eyes will be on Arokodare and Wolves to see if they can adapt, regroup, and claw their way out of danger. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the next few matches promise to be a stern test of character, resilience, and the wisdom of summer recruitment.
