After taking over less than a week before the season began, the former Bournemouth manager sold players for around £150 million before the end of August. Amid financial uncertainties, his first task was to just maintain Wolves in the Premier League.

However, O’Neil’s performance has been so strong that Wolves may be able to make it to Europe the following season. They currently sit in 10th place in the standings, four points behind West Ham in seventh, and if they defeat Championship team Coventry at Molineux on Saturday, they will go to the FA Cup semifinals.

“That’s naturally where this is going,” Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said in response to a question regarding a new contract for O’Neil. He’s performed well enough to engage in that discussion.

‘Part of the conversation will be the plan for the club and that’s where you have to have the honest conversations about what it looks like going forward. That is an inevitable situation we find ourselves in this summer, for sure.’

Though Hobbs denies Wolves will be forced to sell players in the summer, the Premier League’s spending rules mean such decisions must be weighed carefully.

Pedro Neto’s sparkling form this season means he will have suitors at the end of the season, with the wide attacker valued at about £60m.

Max Kilman, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha – even though the latter is injured – are among those who also have admirers among Wolves’ rivals.

Hobbs added: ‘We don’t want to sell more than two starters. But if big clubs come I’ve never been the person to stand in someone’s way as long as we can reinvest in the right way to move forward.

‘We showed with other players leaving last year that we’re able to move forward with three or four starters going. We’re always looking to improve and we have the ability to turn down big offers, but every player has their number as well.’