Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly interested in signing Udinese forward Gerard Deulofeu this month and the Spaniard could be the man to finally replace Diogo Jota at Molineux.
Speaking on the House of Champions YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has suggested that Old Gold boss Julen Lopetegui is a big fan of the 79-goal forward, which implies that he could still end up at Molineux before next week’s transfer deadline.
Romano said:
“I think it’s about Udinese wanting to keep Deulofeu.
“For example, I’m told that also Wolves’ manager, Lopetegui, is [a] big fan of Deulofeu, so it’s true that Aston Villa like him but also Wolves have been tracking him.”
The Spanish manager has already brought in attacking reinforcement in Matheus Cunha and Pablo Sarabia, while Goncalo Guedes has left on loan, but the Midlands outfit may need more players before the window shuts if they are to improve their current standing as the lowest scorers in the division.
Deulofeu would certainly add quality in the final third if he were to swap Udinese for the Midlands, as he has been one of the standout performers in Serie A so far this campaign.
The former Everton and Watford man – who earns a reported £22k-per-week at Udinese – has contributed an impressive two goals and six assists in 16 appearances, averaging a strong 7.05 rating from WhoScored for his performances.
He has also averaged a superb 2.8 shots and three key passes per game in Italy’s top flight, with Diego Costa’s 2.2 shots (of the players to start at least once) and Pedro Neto’s 1.8 key passes (despite his injury problems), the most of the players in Lopetegui’s current squad.
This suggests that there is still a need for an attacker in the side who can regularly produce goals and assists, the type of which hasn’t really been seen at Molineux since Jota left for Liverpool in 2020.
From Wolves’ 2019/20 season, the Portuguese winger would rank second for shots per game and fourth for key passes, finishing as the second top scorer behind Raul Jimenez with seven goals.
He has only improved further under Jurgen Klopp, with 34 goals and 14 assists to his name since his switch to Anfield, with Wolves certainly looking far less of an attacking threat since his departure.
Like Jota, Deulofeu is capable of playing anywhere across the front three and has emphasised his goalscoring prowess in England before, scoring with a “genius” finish against Wolves in the FA Cup semi-final.
Therefore, with Wolves still arguably in need of a natural replacement for Jota, Lopetegui should definitely look to bring Deulofeu to Molineux before the window shuts.
