Wolverhampton Wanderers could soon suffer a nightmare as a mooted summer exit is likely to have a drastic knock-on effect at the west Midlands club.

According to Marca, Atletico Madrid have identified their former forward Diogo Jota as a potential target ahead of next season, and with no buy-back clause on the Portuguese, they could have fork out in excess of €35m (£31m).

The 23-year-old has grown into a top talent under the stewardship of Nuno Santo, scoring 43 goals in 120 matches and even though his departure would leave a huge void to fill, it'll impact Wolf Pack talisman Raul Jimenez the most - especially as they have reverted back to a two-up-top system.

Both Jota and the Mexican have formed a lethal partnership together, which was most notably seen last term where the duo combined for 46.8% of their Premier League goals alone, and Nuno never once shirked away from that 3-5-2 formation.

Jimenez has often fed off his forward counterpart this campaign with Jota averaging 2.2 shots and 0.9 key passes across the English top-flight and the Europa League, via WhoScored.

Premier League experts will get full marks: The ultimate quiz on top-flight transfer flops...

Whilst he is also fouled 1.4 times per match, which always gives Wolves an opportunity to hand it on a plate for the 28-year-old.

The west Midlanders rely ever so heavily on Jimenez as their primary source of goals, so they simply cannot afford to lose a critical cog that makes him thrive entirely at Molineux.

He is effectively Nuno's most valuable player having bagged 22 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, and that is only emphasised given the fact that he is the only senior striker at the 46-year-old's disposal.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

If Atletico are serious about bringing Jota back to Madrid, then they'll have to offer up substantial finances to clinch him. There is no way Jimenez, Nuno or Wolves can cope in his absence long-term.

AND in other news, Ruben Neves enjoying meteoric rise at Wolves...