Bruno Lage has been working busily behind the scenes in order to improve this Wolves squad ahead of the new season.

He’s started his work in impressive fashion by luring Trincao to the club from Barcelona with an option to buy.

However, the Portuguese cannot afford to rest on his laurels just yet.

On the chalkboard

Wolves have a number of areas they desperately need to improve before next season, specifically in attack where a lack of goals really troubled them in 2020/21.

Raul Jimenez was missing from the end of November until the end of the season after sustaining a fractured skull in a sickening clash of heads with David Luiz.

The Mexican was a huge miss as the club’s Player of the Season, Pedro Neto, ended the campaign as their joint top scorer alongside Ruben Neves on just five goals.

Jimenez has made a full recovery and will play for the rest of his career with protective headgear.

However, at the age of 30, you have to wonder whether the tall forward will find top form again.

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He’s been a wonderful servant for the Old Gold down the years, though, beating the goalkeeper on 48 occasions in 110 matches.

The new Jimenez

Rafa Mir would have been the ideal man to replace their star man in the future but it looks increasingly likely that the Spaniard will be heading for the departure lounge this summer.

Instead, they could hand the eventual task of replacing Jimenez to Schalke striker Matthew Hoppe.

According to 90min, Wolves are one of a number of sides plotting a bid in the coming weeks for the American centre-forward.

Born in California, Hoppe has enjoyed an intriguing rise to the German top-flight.

He played for LA Galaxy when he was a teenager and then went onto play for Barcelona’s academy in the United States.

Speaking about his time there, academy director Sean McCafferty, commented:

“In the Southwest Division you’ve got LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, two of the best academies in the country, and we were able to win the division. We’ve had tremendous consistency throughout the year, and we have the top goal scorer in the country in Matthew Hoppe. He’s of the highest level.”

Standing at the colossal height of 6 foot 3, he is similar in stature to Jimenez and like the club’s Mexican sensation, he is adept in the air and a complete natural when it comes to scoring goals.

Hoppe won 1.1 aerial duels per game last season and found the net on seven occasions. That’s not the greatest tally in the world but it’s important to remember that he’s still only 20 years of age.

Compared to Robert Lewandowski, the American evidently has immense potential.

A piece on the official Bundesliga website detailed the following: “Tall and lithe but with a strong frame, the American has a knack of losing his marker at just the right time, his clever movement creating pockets of space inside the penalty area. Although predominantly right-footed, he can also score with his left, with his head and from outside the box.”

Jimenez also has the ability to find clever pockets and score in a number of different ways. Consequently, Hoppe could be his ideal replacement in a few years time.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon delivers Wolves transfer update, fans should be excited...