Wolverhampton Wanderers had an impressive season in 2023/24, a campaign where many felt that they would be contenders for relegation.
This was a sentiment shared by many, notably the BBC’s chief football writer Phil McNulty, who predicted the Midlands side to finish 18th, and claimed he had a “very, very worrying feeling” about Gary O’Neil’s side.
Yet, Wolves defied the critics to finish an impressive 14th in the Premier League last season. They ended on 46 points, 20 points clear of the relegation zone, and were agonisingly close to a top-half finish. O’Neil’s team finished just three points behind tenth place Crystal Palace.
Throughout their side, Wolves had some key contributions from their star players. Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha was their top goalscorer with 14 goals and also notched up an impressive eight assists.
Pedro Neto chipped in with 11 assists as well as getting himself on the scoresheet twice, and Hwang Hee-chan scored 13 goals and registered three assists too.
This season has given Wolves a superb platform to build from under O’Neil. They have already been linked with some players in the transfer window, although there is one player in particular who is thought to be of keen interest to the club.
Wolves target Premier League striker
The player in question here is Chelsea and Albania Armando Broja, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham. Now, the striker has thought to have been given the green light for a departure from Stamford Bridge in the summer.
At least, that is according to reliable Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas, who reports that Wolves are one of three Premier League sides, along with Everton and Southampton, who are all said to be interested in a deal for the Albanian, who will be at Euro 2024 this summer with his country.
However, Thomas explains in his report that none of the interested teams, including Wolves “currently cannot afford him” due to financial restraints on the current side. Thus, they would all “need to sell a player” in order to acquire his services.
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Broja’s price is not yet confirmed, but he is valued at £16.8m by Football Observatory. With his contract at Stamford Bridge not set to expire until 2028, it seems unlikely he will cost any less than that, and Chelsea could even charge more, with talkSPORT reporting that they wanted £50m in January.
Why Broja would be a good signing
It is fair to say that Broja’s past two seasons have not gone as he would have hoped. Following two successful loan spells, with Vitesse where he scored ten league goals in the Netherlands, and Southampton where he scored six times in the Premier League, he returned to Chelsea but has struggled for opportunities.
He has played 25 times in the top flight for the Blues across two seasons, but has only scored twice, and failed to find the net for Fulham in eight appearances. Despite that, he is still a good centre-forward, with one content creator describing him as "special" back in 2022 when he was at Chelsea.
That said, if Wolves sign Broja, he could finally prove to be their replacement for club-record Premier League goalscorer Raul Jimenez.
The Mexican was one of the best marksmen in the top flight for two seasons, scoring 13 goals in 2018/19 and 17 goals in 2019/20, before a sickening head injury against Arsenal, where he fractured his skull, kept him for eight months.
23
Jamie Vardy
22
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Danny Ings
20
Raheem Sterling
19
Mohamed Salah
18
Harry Kane, Sadio Mane
17
Raul Jimenez, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford
After his recovery, Jimenez played two more seasons at Wolves but departed last summer for Broja's loan club, Fulham.
They have struggled to find a proper centre-forward to replace him with, and although goals from Cunha have been crucial, it has at times felt like they have lacked a presence up front. They scored 50 goals in the Premier League last term which was better than only five clubs, as per Understat.
Broja could be the solution, the same aforementioned content creator saying that his “ball-striking and physicality” are two standout areas of his game. His physicality is certainly on show when taking defenders on. The Albania international averages 6.14 take-ons per 90 minutes and completes 2.49 of them per 90, both of which place him in the top 1% of attackers in Europe, as per Fbref.
Having a bullish, string centre-forward who take his chances in the box is exactly what this Wolves side could need to elevate them to the next level. It has been a great start to the project under O’Neil, and a signing like Broja could help them push for higher honours next season.
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