Wolverhampton Wanderers strengthened their side with some high-quality arrivals in the summer transfer window.
Bruno Lage signed Matheus Nunes, Goncalo Guedes and Boubacar Traore, however, they haven’t had the required impact and the Portuguese manager was sacked in October following a poor run of form.
Will Wolves survive this season?
Yes
No
Julen Lopetegui took charge at the start of the month and will be keeping tabs on players ahead of the January transfer window. However, the Old Gold should have secured a deal to bring Enzo Fernandez to the club in the summer, as he could have made a huge difference to their midfield.
Wolves were heavily linked with the Argentinian player during the summer, but he joined Benfica instead and is currently thriving.
In 13 appearances for the Portuguese side so far this season, he has an average SofaScore rating of 7.51/10, registering four goal contributions, two key passes per match, and adding a further eight big chances as he has settled into life on the continent with apparent ease.
He was selected for Argentina’s World Cup squad on the back of this excellent form and he has been a pure joy to watch in Qatar.
Argentina surprisingly lost their first match against Saudi Arabia, but a 2-o victory over Mexico still gives them a chance of progression to the last 16 ahead of their final group match against Poland.
Fernandez was in top form against the Mexicans in what was a 33-minute cameo appearance. He scored the vital second goal with a stunning strike while taking 35 touches and winning four of his total duels.
Former Liverpool star Maxi Rodriguez dubbed him as “elite” while former Porto manager Jose Peseiro compared him to French icon Zinedine Zidane, saying:
“(It is) absolutely surprising the level at which he plays at, at only 21 years old.
“The best player I worked with was (Zinedine) Zidane, at Real Madrid. Of course, I don’t want to compare. But I’m talking about Enzo’s passing and surprising vision; a bit like Zidane.”
His performances have certainly justified this extreme praise, and any hopes that Wolves may be able to lure him to Molineux in the future seem distant, especially with Benfica now valuing the youngster at €50m (£43m).
Lage made some mistakes in his time as the manager of the club, but not signing Fernandez when he had the chance looks worse after every passing match he plays.
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