Having finished on 99 points, Wolves were a strong force in the Championship, with a squad assembled from a mixture of fresh blood and players already familiar with the Molineux way.
All three Championship clubs promoted in 2017 retained their Premier League status and Thelwell wants to see this Wolves team do themselves proud in the top flight.
“We need to make sure that we’re capable of not only playing in the Premier League, but achieving something in the Premier League, that’s the vision to become a strong Premier League outfit,” he said.
“We want to be a strong Premier League contender which is actively playing in the top half of the league. The hard work has already started, it’s going to be a long summer but one we’re looking forward to.
“What we’re gearing up for is to try and create a squad that matches the ambitions of our coaching team, players and Fosun. Their vision is to be a top Premier League team so we have to produce and we’re relishing that challenge.”
Thelwell is aware that reinforcements will be required at Molineux during 2018/19 and now decisions must be made, including on the loan players who performed to admirably last season.
“All credit to the guys on loan because they’ve done a fantastic job and we’ve got some big decisions to make. They’ve all proved they’re capable of playing for Wolves and at a higher level.
“When we did those deals in the summer just gone, we were making sure we had all the details tied down so you’re able to make quick decisions at the end of it.
“There has to be more support to come which will be the difficult part. We’ve got a real opportunity to bring in players that we think are going to make the squad better and we’re going to try work hard to do it as quickly as we can.”
While looking to the future, Thelwell was keen to praise the hard work behind-the-scenes last season, which was so instrumental to the success on the pitch.
“It’s been a fantastic season which everyone has enjoyed immensely from start to finish, but it’s not been without its pressure points.
“We’ve been to all the games and sitting behind that, we’ve got a high number of staff working tirelessly to be the oil or the glue, in terms of patching together and keeping things operating as they should do, or loosening things up and getting the activities going as they should.
“There’s been a huge effort from the backroom team, who’ve done just as fantastic a job as the guys who’ve walked over the white line,” he added.
