£18m star ‘not as available’ as he was ‘a month ago’ at Molineux – GiveMeSport

Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traoré may not be as available for transfer as he may have been a month ago, following the Molineux outfit’s appointment of new head coach Julen Lopetegui, according to journalist Dean Jones.

In January, the 26-year-old will enter the last six months of his contract at the West Midlands club.

Wolves transfer news – Adama Traoré

When Traoré was loaned to Barcelona, with the Catalan giants having the option to buy their youth academy product for £29m, in last season’s January transfer window, it looked for all the world that the speedster’s career at Wolves was over.

However, when the La Liga side decided against a permanent move for the wide man, the former Middlesbrough star returned to the Premier League outfit with just a year remaining on his contract.

According to 90min, both Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United would be interested in a swoop for the eight-time Spain international this January, with Spurs reluctant to pay a large amount of money for the winger.

Jones has previously told GiveMeSport that Traoré could get a new lease of life under Lopetegui and feels that he may now stay at Molineux for the remainder of his £43k-per-week contract.

What has Jones said about Wolves and Traoré?

Jones told GiveMeSport: “They’ve got a new manager looking to change things. He’s probably a player that can help them do that.

“I’m unsure whether he’ll be as available as he might have been a month or so ago.”

What next for Wolves and Traoré?

Lopetegui’s first task at Wolves will be to get the side off of the bottom of the league and away from the Premier League’s relegation zone and he may feel that his best chances of doing that are to keep the nucleus of this current squad until at least the end of the season.

Traoré, who signed for the club for a fee of £18m in the summer of 2018, has made 14 appearances for the West Midlands side this season, scoring two goals in that time according to Transfermarkt, suggesting that the former Sevilla head coach will be looking for more cutting-edge and end product from the forward in the second half of the campaign.

However, for what the former Aston Villa man lacks in product he makes up for in speed and his ability to get Wolves up the pitch, as shown by the fact he ranks in the top 1% of attacking midfielders/wingers across Europe’s big five leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League for dribbles completed per 90 minutes (4.49) over the last 365 days, according to FBref.

With Wolves having only scored eight goals in the Premier League this season (by far the worst record in the league), Lopetegui may feel that keeping one of his most useful attacking outlets around for the remainder of the campaign may be necessary in helping keep the West Midlands side in the league.

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