Wolverhampton Wanderers are eight points clear of the relegation zone and on course to continue their stay in the Premier League beyond the current term.
However, it has not been all plain sailing for the club and their woes in front of goal have played a big part in their struggles throughout the year.
Only Everton (25) and Southampton (28), who currently sit 19th and 20th in the table respectively, have scored fewer goals than Wolves (29) and this is an area that Julen Lopetegui must look to address heading into 2023/24, with one solution potentially coming from a player already at the club in Sasa Kalajdzic.
When will Sasa Kalajdzic be available again?
The Athletic reported in February that the giant centre-forward will miss the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign but is on course to be back on the training pitch with his teammates by the time that pre-season rolls around ahead of next term.
He made one Premier League appearance for the club before suffering a season-ending knee injury but The Telegraph are reporting that Lopetegui views the rarely-seen Austrian as a key player ahead of the forward's return to fitness this summer.
The Spanish head coach has worked with some terrific players throughout his career and he could draw inspiration from his work with Alvaro Morata to get Kalajdzic firing on all cylinders.
Lopetegui managed Morata during their time together in Real Madrid's youth team before overseeing him in the first-team and for Spain at international level and the now-Atletico Madrid striker plundered an exceptional 24 goal and seven assists in 29 appearances for the Wolves boss.
How did Kalajdzic perform at Stuttgart?
Kalajdzic earned himself a move to Wolves by proving himself in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart as the 6 foot 7 titan was a regular goalscorer for the German side.
In his last two full campaigns in Germany, the Austrian attacker scored 22 times and provided eight assists in 48 appearances in the top-flight - starting 36 of those matches.
Like Morata, the 25-year-old is a striker who can bring creativity to the side whilst also being a major goal threat. In 2021/22, the attacker created 1.5 chances per match and produced six 'big chances' for his teammates in the German top-flight for Stuttgart, which shows that he offers more than just finishing.
The £35k-per-week dynamo, who Jacek Kulig once hailed as "unstoppable", has the potential to make a significant impact at the top end of the pitch both in terms of scoring and creating goals and could, therefore, be exactly what Wolves have been missing in the final third if the manager can use his coaching, as he did with Morata, to allow the striker to finally flourish.
Lopetegui's side have been bereft of quality going forward in the Premier League this season and the giant number nine's return could go a long way to solving that problem.
Should the Spanish coach use the tactics he deployed to get the best out of Morata, then he could well unearth the new version of the ex-Chelsea marksman in Kalajdzic.