Wolves have been simply brilliant this season (Getty Images)
While Wolverhampton Wanderers are enjoying another season at the top, the same can’t be said for one of their contracted players.
The West Midlanders are sitting pretty in seventh place while they have advanced into the knockout stages of the Europa League – they’ve only been back in the Premier League for 18 months.
Despite possessing a small squad, manager Nuno Santo still sent over a handful of players out on loan, including striker Rafa Mir, who has been plying his trade across the Midlands at Nottingham Forest. Reports suggest that SD Huesca are ready to make ‘an economic effort’ to sign him.
It would be fair to suggest that it hasn’t gone to plan whatsoever. The Reds do indeed favour the prolific Lewis Grabban but whenever the 22-year-old has been given a chance, he’s been perpetually wasteful.
If things had gone to plan, Rafa Mir could have been lining up under Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu. When at Valencia, the Spaniard had four offers for his services from Real Madrid turned down.
His career since that moment has gone downhill, moving to the Midlands and Wolves, rather than Spain’s capital. Once a highly-rated youngster, the 22-year-old has witnessed a pretty bleak period in his short career. Since arriving on English shores, he’s failed to score in 14 appearances. Four of those have come in the colours of Wolves while 10 were for Nottingham Forest while out on loan.
A tall and technical player, the forward has never lived up to expectation. He ended up getting cast aside as Nuno Santo’s men transitioned into a Premier League outfit.
Failing to cut it in the Championship with Wolves, he struggled to flourish in the Premier League. Even a spell in Spain’s Segunda Division didn’t rejuvenate him. In 2018/19, Mir netted seven goals for Las Palmas, his first strikes since November 2017 when he scored against Elche for Valencia Mestalla, the equivalent of their reserve team.
Notching 25 in 59 outings for their youth ranks, there was clearly a player in there. However, we’re yet to see it in England. Mir had impressed in brief glimpses at Las Palmas, even scoring an instinctive flicked goal but Wolves’ decision not to make him part of their plans heading into 2019/20 has already been entirely vindicated.
He’s managed just two starts on loan at Forest and has played a not so grand total of 217 minutes. In that time, he’s gotten a shoddy pass success rate of 73.8% and his inability to hit the target from 1.2 shots per game is worrying. [Courtesy: Whoscored]
All said and done, he appears a frustrated and dejected figure. When next summer arrives, it wouldn’t be a great surprise if Wolves’ stance becomes even harsher and they sell him permanently.