Wolverhampton Wanderers fans will be pleased with how well the likes of Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha have performed this season in attack, even as their side currently sit in the dreaded relegation spaces in the Premier League.
Between them, the on-fire duo up top have scored 13 of Wolves’ 22 top-flight strikes to date, but the defenders at Molineux are very much letting them down having leaked an embarrassing 36 goals.
Regardless, the under-pressure Gary O’Neil will be overjoyed with how well both the Brazilian and the Nordic attacker are doing, with the pair managing to somewhat fill the void left behind by Pedro Neto.
Neto's time at Wolves
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that Wolves losing Neto this summer was going to hurt them, with the Portuguese winger a spellbinding watch when at the peak of his powers in the West Midlands.
Unfortunately, injury issues meant the now Chelsea number seven was out of the team for large patches, but he still managed to catch the eye of the Blues when fit with 14 goals and 24 assists picked up donning an Old Gold strip.
Marauding forward with so much pace to burn when at full flow, as seen in this stunning solo strike against Manchester City last year, Wolves would have at least taken some solace from the fact they managed to gain a significant £54m fee for his services when Chelsea did come knocking.
The Premier League strugglers must have thought they’d have found an adequate replacement for Neto this summer in this exciting loan purchase, but unlike both Larsen and Cunha who have starred for the relegation-threatened side despite their team’s lowly predicament, this flashy buy has done very little to date.
Carlos Forbs' time at Wolves
Wolves would leave it to the death to pick up promising Ajax star Carlos Forbs in the last transfer window, with the move finally going through on deadline day.
The loan deal will eventually go through as a permanent switch, as long as certain clauses are triggered, with the Old Gold smug at the fact they’d managed to win another slick and quick Portuguese winger who operates in the same mould as their former maverick.
This breakaway strike Forbs managed for the Amsterdam giants in the Europa League last season versus Olympique Marseille shows off his blistering speed when through on goal, with the ex-Manchester City wonderkid desperate to succeed at Molineux after never making the cut at a senior level for the reigning top-flight champions.
It’s not as if the 20-year-old struggled in the youth set-up at Man City either, with a crazy 24 goals and 23 assists tallied up for the U18s from just 34 games, leading to football analyst Ben Mattinson stating that the “frightening” youngster possessed “world class potential.”
Stat
Forbs
Games played
6
Games started
1
Minutes played per game
35
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
But, for all of the immense hype that has come his way, Forbs has struggled to leap into O’Neil’s first team to try and become the club’s new version of Neto, with a mere 35 minutes handed out to him on average this season in the Premier League from six games.
He was left rooted to the substitutes bench last time out versus Everton too, having underwhelmed versus AFC Bournemouth the match before with zero successful dribbles registered from two attempted, but a new potential manager in the Old Gold dug out perhaps could be willing to give him more of a chance to shine.
It’s fair to say the daring attacker expected the infancy of his playing days at Wolves to be going far more swimmingly than they are now, as Old Gold supporters begin to worry that their exciting recruit will just go down as a flop.
Having been somewhat overlooked by O’Neil thus far, amid his solitary start, a new appointment could be just what is needed for the next Neto to shine.
Wolves may swoop ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal to sign "phenomenal" ace
He’s a man in demand.
ByTom CunninghamDec 5, 2024
