According to Foot Mercato, Wolverhampton Wanderers have made an offer of ‘over €50m’ (£47.2m) for Lille anchorman Boubakary Soumare, and it’s a move that would benefit Nuno Santo greatly.
What’s the word?
Reports from France claim that Wolves have made the 20-year-old a ‘priority’ target with Premier League rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur also keen.
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Although, it has been the west Midlands outfit to make the first move for Soumare with them offering to pay out the remainder of his current contract, in addition to loaning him back to the Ligue 1 side.
The same source states that Wolves had a lower bid rejected during the summer.
Neves impact
It is widely known that Nuno wants to bolster his squad options in January, but this case offers an interesting long-term plan with the club reportedly planning to send him back to Lille until the summer.
Regardless of whether that happens, Soumare’s arrival can only spell wonderful things for Ruben Neves.
A few months ago, BirminghamLive claimed that the club were pursuing central options in midfield, and that has to be in order to allow the Portugal international to thrive further up the pitch – Neves’ xG is down from last year, decreasing to 0.04 from 0.1, per Understat.
That has been something done in recent weeks, but by only playing a two-player midfield, Nuno could do with greater defensive stability, and that’s what Soumare brings.
His former teammate, Arnaud Luzayadio, once said: “He has always been above our generation. He managed to do high-level things for his age. It was easy for him. All of his matches were great matches.”
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While another ex-Paris Saint Germain player, Metehan Güclü, believed his career could “go a long way; a Pogba-like trajectory.”
This season in Champions League, the young Frenchman is averaging three dribbles, two interceptions, 1.5 clearances and one tackle per game, via WhoScored.
It only goes to show he can do it on the big stage and thus would be a very welcome addition at Molineux.
In other news, this Wolves ace has quadrupled his transfer value according to club legend Kenny Hibbitt
