Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo (Getty Images)
Wolverhampton Wanderers have been much better than many expected them to ever be in the Premier League this season. They walked in as the winners of the EFL Championship but given that they walked into one of the most physical and toughest leagues in the world, few gave them a chance.
However, 17 games in and the Wanderers are sitting pretty a mere one point behind Manchester United in 7th place. To leapfrog over them, however, will take a lot more than what Nuno Espírito Santo has managed to do so far. In fact, to do so, he needs help.
What Espírito Santo needs are two players who can help turn around his fortunes. That said, here are two stars who can push them into a Europa League spot.
The 21-year-old was all but ready to move to Molineux Stadium over the summer window with the club desperately chasing Zinchenko’s signature. In the end, the move didn’t go through with the former PSV man opting to stay and fight his way into Pep Guardiola’s line-up, according to the Mirror. But that hasn’t worked well so far, with Zinchenko making only 7 appearances.
Hence, Wolves should try signing him again in the January window. The Ukraine international has played primarily played as a left-back for Guardiola over the last few seasons but he prefers playing as a midfielder.
A highly versatile midfielder, Zinchenko is brilliant with the ball and is quite creative going forward, which is something the Wolves desperately need in their locker.
Super Mario has turned his life around after dreadful spells at Liverpool, AC Milan, and even Manchester City. While his time at City will forever be remembered, nothing has gone his way since then. A move to OGC Nice has revitalized the Italian’s career, however, with him scoring 43 goals in 76 appearances.
But despite that, OGC Nice has only agreed to a three-year contract with the 28-year-old and he has just over six months left on his current deal. That makes things easier for Wolves if and when they decide to go for a proven Premier League goal-scorer. That’s something Nuno needs in the coming months as Wolves try and fight to make the Europa League, having scored only 19 goals this season.
That’s the lowest number of goals scored by any team in the Premier League’s top ten and that’s a number they need to pump up. Top scorer Raul Jimenez has struggled and has only managed to score five goals so far in the Premier League and they need someone to help them.
While they haven’t been linked with a move for the Italian, bringing in Mario Balotelli could be the boost that Nuno Espírito Santo and his men need.