With the likes of Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence set to miss a particularly large chunk of pre-season, Wolves will need to bolster their forward line this summer.
The Portuguese duo are creative and canny operators on their day, a breed of player which has been synonymous with Nuno Espirito Santo since he arrived in the Midlands in 2017.
With that in mind, a similar addition should be on the cards.
What’s the word?
Wolves have been interested in signing Valencia attacker Goncalo Guedes for a few months now. Earlier this year, it was reported that they were attempting to hijack West Ham’s ploy to sign him once the summer rolled around.
Indeed, it would appear the Molineux outfit are now towards the front of the queue for his signature after a fresh report emerged on the 24-year-old’s future this week.
AS claimed (via Sport Witness) that Wolves intend to buy Guedes when the window opens, but they now face competition from Sevilla, who are willing to put €20m (£17.2m) on the table in order to lure him away from the Mestalla.
Podence upgrade
Guedes ticks all of the boxes for a Jeff Shi signing - he’s Portuguese, a client of Jorge Mendes and he’s a diminutive winger.
There is a lot more to his game than that, however.
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Described as an “unpredictable” player by former Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo, the forward has a tendency to blow hot and cold, but he has had a storming end to the season with Valencia as he made a late surge to be included in the Portugal squad for the upcoming European Championships.
Guedes has scored seven goals this term, taking his Valencia tally to 23, and has provided seven assists for his colleagues. The vast majority of those chance creations have come in recent months.
During Valencia’s 4-1 win over Eibar last weekend, he scored twice and also registered an assist. That took his tally in the last ten games to five assists and three goals.
The Portugal international really looks to have hit his stride at the moment, which is more than can be said for Podence, who has had an injury-hit campaign in England but has still not provided regular numbers when afforded the opportunity to play.
If we compare the two players, Guedes has produced more key passes and dribbles per game, while he has also been fouled on a more regular basis.
It’s the number of take-ons where there is the greatest disparity. The Wolves transfer target has registered 2.1 dribbles per match this season, while Podence has managed 1.6 per game.
Consider the fact that the Old Gold attacker has only set up two goals in 2020/21 and things look even worse for him. Nuno would duly be making a wise addition by bringing Guedes to Molineux.