Wolverhampton Wanderers head into the winter break bottom of the Premier League table following their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.

With Julen Lopetegui officially taking charge as of today, a new era will soon be underway at Molineux and the Spaniard faces a huge task on his hands to save the club from relegation.

With just two league wins all season, the majority of players have been performing far below the required standards expected at the club, and the 56-year-old will take the break to assess who can play a part going forward and who needs to be moved on.

He could find an unlikely saviour in Boubacar Traore however, with the 21-year-old making just four starts all season.

Bruno Lage signed the midfielder on a season-long loan deal from French side Metz with an option to buy included in the deal, thought to be £9.5m and Lopetegui should be focusing his midfield around the youngster, especially with his enthusiasm and energy.

He didn’t make his debut until midway through September, coming off the bench against Manchester City for a 20-minute cameo and receiving a SofaScore rating of 7/10, which was better than everyone minus Ruben Neves.

His form recently has shown that he should be starting more often. The player scored the winner against Leeds United in the EFL Cup last week, while putting in a solid display against Arsenal despite the defeat.

Traore won six out of his eight defensive duels while also succeeding with 100% of his attempted dribbles, proving he has the required strength and ball-playing ability to perform at the highest level.

Analyst Liam Henshaw dubbed the midfielder a “dribbling machine” and his stats from Saturday night certainly justify this praise.

Lopetegui will have a solid four to five weeks to work with his players before their next league match on Boxing Day against Everton.

The 56-year-old should give the Malian more game time and integrate him into a midfield three alongside Neves and Matheus Nunes going forward.

Should the new boss do so successfully, Traore may just play a vital rescue act in the second half of the campaign as they aim to climb the table.