Bruno Lage: I’ve been planning to reinforce Wolves squad since February

Bruno Lage wants to reinforce his Wolves squad with two or three players before the start of next season as the Portuguese revealed he had been planning for the summer transfer window since February.

Wolves are guaranteed a third Premier League top-half finish in their last four seasons ahead of the final weekend of the campaign, when they travel to Merseyside to take on title-challenging Liverpool.

Lage, though, does not intend to stand still in the coming months, especially as Morocco defender Romain Saiss and Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves have been linked with a Molineux exit this summer.

Saiss is soon to be out of contract but is in talks with the club about signing a new deal to extend his six-year stay at Wolves according to Lage, who is nevertheless preparing for every eventuality.

“We need two or three players to increase the quality and the number of players in the squad,” Lage said.

“I’m excited because I think everyone knows what we have in our hands and we need to prepare for the future for the stability of the club.

“I’m preparing every time since the first day. Every time I prepare the next step. The motivation is we need to look forward and we need to grow.

“We need to be prepared and I am preparing that since the beginning of February. I have tried to imagine which kind of players we need to be better and to replace the players if we miss someone.”

While Lage is realistic about his side gatecrashing the top six, the Portuguese’s forward-thinking has been prompted by the expectation clubs below Wolves will bolster their squads.

“We know this competition is very hard, the top six every time are going to be the top six. West Ham is doing solid in the last years,” he said.

“The rest of the teams also want to improve, teams like Everton, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Southampton. We cannot be in the position where we are in doubt or we don’t increase our quality.”

Lage will be without injured defenders Saiss, Max Kilman and Nelson Semedo for Sunday afternoon’s trip to Merseyside, when they will be attempting to arrest a six-game winless run.

While that streak has ended any ambition of European football next season for Wolves, Lage insisted his team want to finish as high as possible, with Leicester and Brighton capable of leapfrogging them.

“We still have our targets and we need to go there to try to win the game,” Lage said.

“With that victory, we can reach 16 victories in the Premier League which is important for us and we can stay in eighth position.”