Julen Lopetegui needs firepower NOW at goal-shy Wolves
It has been 351 DAYS since a Wolves striker has scored a Premier League goal… with Jimenez struggling to find his form, Cunha yet to justify his £44m price tag and Costa’s best days behind him, Lopetegui needs firepower NOW to avoid the drop
- A Wolves striker has not scored in the Premier League since March 10, 2022
- Raul Jimenez, Matheus Cunha and Diego Costa are all struggling in front of goal
- Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui will want to solve the issue soon to avoid the drop
When Raul Jimenez scored for Wolves in a 4-0 win over Watford, Lionel Messi was still dreaming of winning the World Cup, Joe Root was England cricket captain and Boris Johnson was Prime Minister.
Plenty has happened since the Mexican’s strike at Molineux on March 10 last year, yet at least one thing has stayed the same: no Wolves centre-forward has found the net in the 33 Premier League games – nearly a full season – since that triumph.
Unless Wolves can break that curse, it seems certain to be a nervy end to the season for Julen Lopetegui’s team, who head into Friday’s fixture at Craven Cottage three points above the relegation zone.
To highlight Wolves’ lack of punch, Fulham star Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 19 times in the league since Jimenez’s goal.
Lopetegui has changed just about everything since taking over a club bottom of the Premier League heading into the World Cup break. Training is sharper, recruitment has greater focus, and players are encouraged to eat together and speak English at all times, which has improved spirit.
Wolves’ attacking woes have hampered them all season and it could result in relegation
Raul Jimenez’s goal against Watford in March 2022 is the last time a striker has scored for the club in the Premier League
Jimenez has struggled to rediscover his form after his serious head injury in 2020
One thing the Spaniard cannot find, though, is a player who can be trusted to put the ball in the net.
‘I am worried when we cannot score in general, it’s not only the work of the strikers,’ insists Lopetegui. ‘We have to play more calmly.’
This is a long-standing problem, however. With 17 goals in 23 games, Wolves are the top flight’s joint-lowest scorers with Everton.
Last term, only the three relegated clubs – Burnley, Watford and Norwich – managed fewer than Wolves’ 38.
Wolves have certainly tried to correct it. They paid Stuttgart £15million for Sasa Kalajdzic last August, but the Austrian damaged knee ligaments on his debut against Southampton and has not been seen since.
Then it was the turn of former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid star Diego Costa. To put it kindly, the 34-year-old has lost a little zip, which is why his record reads 11 games, no goals.
Surely Matheus Cunha, who joined on loan from Atletico in January, would provide the answer? Not yet.
The Brazilian has played six games but is still waiting for his first goal and anyway, Cunha looks more of a second striker than a traditional No9.
That £44m obligation-to-buy clause in Cunha’s loan deal is certainly looking hefty. Wolves really do not want the 23-year-old’s first game as a permanent signing to be Rotherham away on the opening day of the Championship season.
Wolves are still suffering from the events of November 29, 2020, when Jimenez fractured his skull during the game at Arsenal, placing his life in danger.
It is remarkable that Jimenez has returned to competitive football at all and it was always unfair to expect him to regain the form he showed before the incident. Yet he was once one of the most accomplished frontmen in the league.
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa is a shadow of the man that lit up Stamford Bridge
Julen Lopetegui will hope to find a solution to the problem otherwise relegation beckons
Since returning to action, Jimenez has six in 42 in the league and since last summer, Wolves have been prepared to sell him. It would also help if Pedro Neto, their flying wide attacker, could stay fit for a sustained period.
Lopetegui has worked effectively with recruitment chief Matt Hobbs since taking charge and the pair are exploring numerous avenues, rather than simply relying on Jorge Mendes’ powerful Gestifute agency to come up with the answers to their needs.
Lopetegui has been a fan of Michail Antonio since the forward helped West Ham knock his Sevilla side out of the Europa League last season, while Fabio Silva may return to Molineux a new man after loan spells with Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven this season, though the 20-year-old needs to improve drastically in numerous areas to look like a Premier League centre-forward.
None of this can help Wolves right now. They desperately need Cunha to find form. With the fear of relegation gnawing at them, this would be the perfect time to do so.
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