Wolverhampton Wanderers are entering the new decade with a wealth of changing fortunes.
During the past ten years, the club suffered a shock double relegation, resulting in them competing in the third-tier of English football for the first time since 1992.
Since then, Chinese conglomerate Fosun have taken over and steered the west Midlanders to the dazzling heights of European football. It all began with their appointment of Nuno Santo and subsequent investment in the playing squad.
Championship winners in 2018, a record-high seventh-place finish in the Premier League. Things are only on their way up at Molineux.
As the club enters 2020, they are still alive in multiple competitions with the FA Cup beginning at the weekend, as well as the small matter of the Europa League knockout stages as well as battling for a place in the top six in the league.
Although, their chances of competing on all fronts will hinge on whether or not they can make critical additions during the transfer window. These three to four weeks could be season-defining.
Nuno likes to operate with a small, tight-knit squad, but that’s just not doable when you’re playing two games a week for the majority of the season.
The team will undoubtedly suffer from burnout, as seen with Raul Jimenez, who has already played 32 matches this campaign, not including those for Mexico on international duty, per Transfermarkt.
His recent showing against Watford only proved that as he failed to win any of his seven aerial duels.
But with Patrick Cutrone, who needs to be handed more of a chance, there’s plenty of cover in that department.
During the last 18 matches in all competitions, Wolves have managed to keep just two clean sheets, which isn’t good enough for a side wanting to break into the top six.
Sir Alex Ferguson once famously said: “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles” – he would know having won 13 Premier Leagues whilst in charge of Manchester United.
The damning figures above are no surprise to read considering the Portuguese boss has often gone with central midfielders in a back three in the absence of the injured Willy Boly.
It is believed that his return combined with the apparent ‘form’ of Romain Saiss and Leander Dendoncker at centre-back is enough to warrant a lack of defensive additions this month – which would be both naive and stupid.
It’s the dawn of a new decade in the Premier League, but how much do you know about the last 10 years?
Even with Boly expected back next month, he will need time to get up to the speed of things whilst the aforementioned duo have been far from consistent options, neither ranking in the top eight players for average rating per WhoScored this season.
A central defender should be top of Nuno’s priority this month. They can’t afford to head into the run-in with a lack of genuine options at the back.
It could be the difference between an above-average season and a simply outstanding one. The numbers over the past couple of months display the true story.
Meanwhile, could this summer arrival be under threat if Wolves plump for this emerging attacker?…
