A quirk of the calendar promised a cheap gag about the deadline falling on Groundhog Day, 2 February, and the familiar feeling of Wolves leaving everything to the last minute.
That would have been both unfunny and probably unfair, this January being unlike any previous window since Wolves were last promoted.
The idea of lying doggo and holding money back until the summer gained more support than might have been expected. It had an undeniable logic.
You could wonder how it would really feel the morning after, realising that the rest of the campaign – which season-ticket holders paid for months ago – had effectively been written off as a bad job. (Perhaps, after the rest of the league was equally inert for most of Monday, not that bad after all.)
At a meeting with the club's senior management last week, a selection of fans' group leaders and podcasters were assured that work was continuing, but with a "focus on protecting the club's value".
It was also noted that attracting players had proved very difficult, which was not hard to believe. Players who feel their place is in the Premier League could consider any club in the top half of the Championship more likely to appear in the top flight next season than Wolves.
But the deadline day business offers encouragement that squad-building, now overseen by Matt Jackson, will be better next summer – as it will need to be if the stated aim of an immediate bounce back up is realistic. Adam Armstrong, proven in the second tier, was a logical purchase at a fair price.
The signing of Angel Gomes is more intriguing. A full England international within the last 18 months, his record suggests he could be a very high-end Championship player. The notion that he might use a loan at Wolves to remind Premier League clubs who he is feels misplaced after his first club interview, in which Gomes was clear that the chance to work with Rob Edwards, one of his coaches at England Under-20 level, was a major pull factor.
And of course there was the Jorgen Strand Larsen deal. It's better that we remember his form from last season, which feels more aligned to the Crystal Palace offer.
Last summer, Wolves' mishandling of the window left them in a position where both choices – either rejecting Newcastle’s massive offer or allowing their striker to leave with no serious cover – felt equally unthinkable.
The next window could be their most complex for years and they cannot afford to be so poorly prepared again.
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