Wolverhampton Wanderers have been absolutely fantastic this campaign, with the Midlands side currently sitting in ninth place in the Premier League.
Gary O’Neil has done a remarkable job, leading the team up the table and matching last season’s point tally already.
What’s even more impressive is that he’s been able to get results with a rather thin squad, especially during spells without Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan, and Matheus Cunha due to injury.
However, it’s important that the Wanderers strengthen their attacking options in the summer, with potential outgoings on the cards.
Wolves’ search for a new centre forward
According to journalist Mike McGrath, via The Telegraph, Wolves are interested in signing Che Adams in the summer.
The Scotland striker currently earns £32k-per-week at Southampton, but his contract is set to expire in the summer, which means Adams would become a free agent.
The report mentions that O’Neil’s side is currently leading the race to sign the former Birmingham City ace on a free transfer.
Wolves were already reportedly in the market for a striker in January after the exit of Sasa Kalajdzic on loan, and their search will continue to intensify.
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ByTom LeverMar 24, 2024 Why Che Adams would be the perfect Hwang rival
Although Hwang has become the focal point of the Wolves team this season, scoring ten goals and providing three assists in 19 league starts, he isn’t exactly an out-and-out striker like Adams, with the current team not having a true centre forward.
The South Korean has featured as a left-winger, a right-winger, and a centre-forward this campaign already, and therefore, not only could the Saints star be a direct rival or replacement, but he could feature alongside Hwang in the starting lineup, giving the Wolves boss more tactical flexibility.
For Southampton this season, Adams has been brilliant considering the role he has taken up as more of a back-up than a consistent starter, which would most likely be the case once again if he were to move to Wolves.
The 27-year-old “clinical” finisher, as dubbed by journalist Brian Dick, has proven to score some important goals as his side look to return to the top-flight, boating the exact same record as Hwang, ten goals and three assists.
Goals
0.55
0.53
Shots total
3.10
2.03
Touches (Att pen)
5.04
4.28
Progressive passes
3.49
1.68
Passes into final third
1.99
0.79
Passes completed
18.87
19.03
However, as you can see from the table above showcasing their statistics from the past year, Adams seems to have a slightly different style of play from the former RB Leipzig player, with the Scotland marksman looking to drop deeper and progress the play.
As well as this, Adams takes more shots at goal and has more touches in the opposition penalty area, which proves he’s more of a presence in the box than Wolves’ number 11.
With Adams offering a slightly similar profile to Hwang, it would provide O’Neil with a different option in attack that they don’t currently have, with Cunha being classified as a similar player to Hwang by FBref.
Furthermore, the fact that Adams would arrive on a free transfer means that there’s minimal risk in the deal, if any at all, and if he can continue to perform how he has this campaign, he’d be a very smart acquisition.
