When Nuno Santo decided to leave Wolves at the back end of last season, the Molineux faithful understandably held a great deal of concern for the future of their club.

Although the Portuguese had guided the Old Gold to a lowly finish of 13th, far away from the European places, he had achieved a great deal in the Midlands.

This was the man who had steered Wolves to the Premier League, cemented their top-flight status and taken them to the Europa League.

Yet, Nuno had achieved everything he could and headed for the exit door after a rift over transfers with the club's hierarchy.

Bruno Lage has since come in and transformed this Wolverhampton Wanderers side. They might have suffered a number of injuries this term and been without their Player of the Season from 2020/21 in Pedro Neto, but that hasn't stopped them from flying high.

They head into Christmas in 8th place and stand a phenomenal chance of reaching European football again.

However, those aforementioned injuries could put a dent in their progress if it carries on throughout the entire campaign. Making use of the January transfer window, therefore, could be just the ticket.

One player who has been tipped with a move to Wolves is Dele Alli.

The Spurs playmaker has been in disastrous form over the last couple of campaigns and has gone from a genuine wonderkid and saviour of English football to someone who can barely get a look in at Tottenham.

The 25-year-old has only started seven times in the league this season and was blasted as a "disgrace" by Jamie O'Hara after the Lilywhites were defeated by minnows NS Mura in the UEFA Conference League.

That doesn't exactly paint Dele in a positive light, but the fact of the matter is that he's still a cracking player, one who is about to reach the prime of his career.

You sense that the England international needs a fresh start and he could gain exactly that with Wolves.

If he does move further north then he would surely be the missing piece that drags Lage's side to a European finish.

After all, this is a talent who has scored more than eight goals in four top-flight campaigns in his career so far. Considering that Wolves' top scorer last term was Neto with just five goals, that extra dose of magic in the final third from Dele could be game-changing.

The £100k-per-week earner has been described as a "freak" by Darren Anderton and has even been compared to two of the most technically gifted footballers to grace the game by Mauricio Pochettino.

He once commented: "You smell Maradona's energy, his charisma is amazing.

"Ronaldinho at Paris Saint-Germain was similar. And it’s similar with Dele. People love him in this way. When you add the charisma to the talent, that’s what makes a special player. When he was scoring goals, kids loved him like he was Ronaldinho.
"Kids feel this charisma, this energy, and with Dele it’s the same; he has this charisma that kids love and follow." That's quite the assessment to make and even if his form has tailed off in recent years - scoring just five times in the last 18 months - he is still a pure joy to watch. Seeing him revive himself at Wolves would be quite the sight so combine him with the likes of Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore and Neto, and you could have quite the front line. Lage has to bring the £27m-rated talent to the Midlands this winter.

AND in other news, Wolves can sign the new Thomas Muller in £120k-p/w gem who can "unlock" defences...