With Wolves severely under the microscope, some sort of change is needed at Molineux.
Since Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured a skull against Arsenal, they have won just two games. As a result, Nuno Santo is in deep bother.
On the chalkboard
It would appear that incomings in the Midlands this month look incredibly unlikely.
Consequently, the Old Gold have brought back Patrick Cutrone and Morgan Gibbs-White from their loan spells.
The former made only five appearances while at Swansea and it will be disappointing that he didn’t have a full season to develop and nurture under the guidance of Steve Cooper.
Unfortunately, early signs we’ve seen of the youngster since he came back have been largely underwhelming. The 20-year-old came on for the final 21 minutes against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup but touched the ball on just six occasions – making four passes.
His impact was dismally ineffective but it hasn’t got much better for him since. Gibbs-White started against Everton in the league but failed to create a single goal-scoring opportunity.
Furthermore, the midfielder was ineffective with all of his dribbles and won only two ground duels. For context, that was one of the worst percentages in the entire Wolves side.
Meanwhile, in their defeat at the hands of West Brom – a substitute appearance saw Gibbs-White complete just 75% of his passes, the worst of anyone in the Wolves team that day. He also somehow managed to lose possession nine times despite only playing the final 30 minutes.
The solution
Since Gibbs-White returned to the Midlands, Vitinha’s game time has been limited again.
The young Portuguese has played just four minutes since the 3-3 draw with Brighton but that simply has to change.
After all, the qualities he demonstrated against Manchester United at Old Trafford were far more impressive than his newest midfield competitor.
In that fixture, the 20-year-old won 100% of his duels and completed 100% of his dribbles. Remarkably, that was his first top-flight start in England and considering it was against such high-class opponents, he didn’t look out of place.
The 20-year-old is a vibrant talent, one described as “special” by club owner Jeff Shi when he first walked through the door last summer.
Doubly impressive, though, are the early comparisons he’s received to one of Wolves’ standout players.
Nuno Barbosa, a reported from Jornal de Noticias once said: “You’ll realise he knows what to do at every moment of the game, he’s very similar to Joao Moutinho.”
Unlike Gibbs-White, Vitinha seems to possess a better game sense and a higher level of intelligence on the field. This was certainly the case when Wolves took on Man United last month.
Despite making just two Premier League starts, the Portuguese needs to play over Gibbs-White.
AND in other news, Wolves can finally replace Jota by swooping for “ruthless” gem with “explosive pace”…