Wolves have failed to complete the signing of Brazilian midfielder Emerson in time for tomorrow night's daunting trip to Manchester United.
A dispute between the player and his club Atletico Madrid over financial issues is threatening to scupper the deal.
The Premiership strugglers, who have leaked nine goals in their first two matches of the season, announced yesterday they had secured the player for £800,000 sterling, subject a work permit and a medical.
But Jones said today: "Emerson has not signed and he will not be signed in time for the Old Trafford game. There is problem at their end which is nothing to do with us and it needs to be sorted.
"We've just got to wait on it but at the moment it's hit a snag. I'm hoping it can go through but it needs to be sorted by Emerson's agent and Atletico Madrid."
Jones is still to decide whether to hand former Newcastle keeper Pavel Srnicek a permanent deal. He is short of a third goalkeeper after failing to win a work permit for Cameroon international Carlos Kameni and seeing current number one Matt Murray injured while on England Under-21 duty.