Wolves’ season hasn’t exactly been one to remember so far.
Sat 13th in the Premier League table, they have fallen some way short of expectation and will face a huge battle to regain European football. As a result, some extra investment in the transfer market could do a great deal of good.
What’s the word?
The priority for Wolves in the January window is a new striker. They have been linked with the likes of Divock Origi and Diego Costa but a new name has now emerged on their radar.
According to the Transfer Exchange Show, they’re eyeing a move for Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah.
They state that the Old Gold are in talks over a move for the youngster with negotiations ongoing. It’s thought that Arsenal are wanting somewhere in the region of £15m-£20m for his services.
Nketiah is currently earning a salary of £45k-a-week at the Emirates so this could be a pricey deal for Fosun and co to complete.
A big mistake
Nketiah is undoubtedly one of the most promising young strikers in the Premier League. He is a talented poacher and more often than not, finds the back of the net when given a goal-scoring opportunity.
Described as “powerful” by Mikel Arteta, he possesses the ability to run in behind and get across his man with intelligent off the ball movement.
He has been lethal in youth football and has surpassed Alan Shearer’s record of goals in an England U21s shirt. Nketiah has 12 strikes in ten matches at that level so it’s no great surprise to see him labelled a “goal machine” by Michael Owen.
If anyone knows anything about beating the goalkeeper, it’s certainly him.
Yet, for all of his success at youth level, he hasn’t achieved a great deal on the senior stage. The striker has scored five times in 21 matches this season which isn’t disastrous given he’s just 21, but at the end of the day, they don’t need another young forward.
Wolves do like to develop for the future but they signed Fabio Silva for £35.6m in the summer. Signing Nketiah, therefore, would be an inexcusable waste of money.
Nuno Santo needs a senior striker to cover for Raul Jimenez this month, not a rising star – he already has that at his disposal.