The Athletic's Tim Spiers believes he has found the 'ideal candidate' to bolster one of Wolves' key areas this summer and thinks he'd be the sort of signing to boost them onto a new level.

What's he said?

While the Premier League is currently suspended, the ever-reliable scribe has been doing a Q&A for members of the Molineux faithful.

One supporter posed the question on the sorts of defenders the club may look to sign ahead of next season with Benfica centre-back Ruben Dias being named as a possibility.

The 22-year-old has been linked to the club in the past while there have been whispers suggesting that Nuno Santo is after reinforcements in central positions, so maybe there could be legs to this one after all.

Replying in the Q&A, Spiers said:

Final piece

For a long period of time, Wolves were without the colossal presence of Willy Boly in central defence, something they potentially were left to rue as they kept just one clean sheet in 14 league games.

His return has led to a run of four shutouts in their last five, so it's evident that he has a massive influence to Nuno's defensive fortunes.

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In addition, Ryan Bennett departed the club for Leicester City, which has led to Romain Saiss and Leander Dendoncker continuing to play a centre-back role at times despite both being primarily midfielders.

Therefore, it's fair to suggest that Nuno could indeed do with an addition to his backline, and as Spiers suggests, Dias would be more than the ideal man to fill that void.

The Portugal international, who is valued at £32.4m by Transfermarkt, has played every minute of every domestic and Champions League match for Benfica this term.

Call yourself a Wolves expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

He's kept 17 clean sheets in 39 appearances in all competitions, and is a client of super-agent Jorge Mendes, so that should make a few things easier.

If Wolves are to move onto the next level, then a signing of Dias' calibre is certainly the right move to make.

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