Football FanCast
·20 October 2021
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Yahoo sportsFootball FanCast
·20 October 2021
Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in a deal to bring Guilherme Arana to Molineux this January.
That’s according to a report by Spanish media outlet Fichajes (via Birmingham Live), who claim that Bruno Lage has identified the Atletico Mineiro left-back as a transfer target ahead of the winter window, with Wolves believed to have been monitoring the 24-year-old following his highly impressive performances at the Toyko Olympics this summer.
While, on the face of it, left-back does not appear to be a position in which Lage is in desperate need of reinforcements this January, upon digging a little deeper, the signing of a new player in the position this winter, particularly one of Arana’s quality, may actually prove to be a very intelligent move by Jeff Shi.
Indeed, with Jonny Otto sidelined until at least 2022 due to injury, Wolves’ current first-choice left-back Marcal celebrating his 33rd birthday later this season and £9.99m summer signing Rayan Ait Nouri having played just six minutes of Premier League football under Lage, it would appear that the possibility of the latter two of this trio being moved on next summer a very real one.
If this is the plan for Wolves, signing a new player in the position in January would be a smart move indeed, allowing the potential signing to bed into the club and learn from those ahead of him in the current pecking order before potentially taking on the position as first-choice next season.
And, considering just how impressive Arana has been for Atletico Mineiro in the current campaign, the 24-year-old would certainly appear to make a fantastic addition to the Wolves squad.
Indeed, over his 16 Brazilian Serie A appearances this term, the £7.2m-rated man has helped his side keep seven clean sheets, registered four assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.4 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.
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These returns have seen the player Andre Jardine dubbed a “spectacular” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as his club’s fourth-best performer in the Brazilian top flight.
As such, should an opportunity to sign the man who Breaking The Lines compared to former Arsenal and Barcelona left-back Sylvinho this January, Shi simply must do all he can to land the defender.