Wolverhampton Wanderers have been fantastic this season, despite crashing out of the FA Cup to Championship side Coventry City last time out.
Their main improvement from last season has been their ability to find the back of the net more frequently, scoring 11 more goals than last campaign already.
The appointment of Gary O’Neil as manager has certainly played a huge role in getting the side firing again, while even showing the courage to utilise young talent.
However, away from the club, the Wanderers also have an extremely talented prospect thriving who has the potential to replace Nelson Semedo.
Nelson Semedo’s 2023/24 campaign in numbers
Since joining Wolves in 2020 from Barcelona in a huge £36.8m deal, Semedo has been the first-choice right back under every manager, making 136 appearances for the Wanderers.
This season under O’Neil, the speedy fullback has started 27 Premier League games, making 2.3 tackles per game and helping his side to four clean sheets.
However, despite playing as an attacking wingback who’s tasked with providing support in the final third, the Portuguese ace has failed to score all season and only registered one assist.
Unlike the 30-year-old, a current Wolves loanee who’s been on fire in Switzerland this season could just be an upgrade on Semedo, especially considering the former Porto man is the club’s second-highest earner at £80k-per-week.
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In July 2021, Wolves signed 21-year-old right-back Bendeguz Bolla from Hungarian top-flight side Fehervar FC in a deal worth £800k.
The defender was instantly sent on loan to Swiss side Grasshoppers following his move to England, where he played 66 games, scoring six times and registering seven assists.
In the summer, Bolla was tipped to return to Wolves and play a role to some degree this season, with journalist Bence Bocsak labelling the 24-year-old a “top talent.”
Instead, the childhood friend of Dominik Szoboszlai was sent back to Switzerland, this time joining UEFA Europa League side Servette on a season-long loan with the option to buy, and based on his performances this season, Wolves are now in danger of losing a potential Semedo upgrade who has not played a single minute for Wolves since joining.
Goals
1
Assists
1
Key passes
3
Pass accuracy
82%
Shots
3
Fouls won
3
Tackles
2
As you can see, Bolla’s recent performance against Stade Ls Ouchy in the Swiss Super League shows what he has the ability to produce, even beating Semedo’s Premier League goal contribution tally in one game.
The versatile defender can play on either flank as a full-back or a midfielder, but he is best suited to a wing-back role, which allows him to score goals, create, and help out defensively.
In 33 games across all competitions this season, the Hungary international has picked up ten goal contributions, five goals, and five assists, which is obviously far superior to O’Neil’s current first-choice wing-back.
Overall, if Bolla continues to perform between now and the end of the season, Wolves will most definitely want to hand him a chance in pre-season, but given he’s now found his feet at Servette – and with the loan club possessing that option to buy – he may want to continue his development away from the Wanderers.
