Is there an obvious solution to Wolves’ Rafa Mir problem?

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Championship winners Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Real Madrid to Valencia’s Rafa Mir in January.

Among the Portuguese talents and Champions League stars, arguably the most eye-catching signing of the Fosun reign at Wolverhampton Wanderers was a 20-year-old who had only ever made two senior appearances.

Then again, it is not often a club like Wolves beats Real Madrid to a transfer.

According to the Express and Star, exciting Valencia striker Rafa Mir had an option to sign for Los Blancos this summer before instead joining the Wolves revolution for a fee of £1.5 million.

So it is fair to say big things were expected. But then, it is easy to forget that Mir had not even made the breakthrough into Valencia’s first-team and, despite all his talents and brilliance at youth level, had not proved himself in the senior game.

As such, Mir has played just 29 minutes of Championship football for Wolves as they stormed towards the league title and has managed less than an hour for the club’s U23 side this summer.

Furthermore, with the Telegraph claiming Wolves are keen to sign Bournemouth loanee Benik Afobe permanently while eyeing a deal for Rubin Kazan striker Sardar Azmoun (the Mirror, page 48, April 22), the chances of Rafa Mir forcing himself into the first-team in the near future could be about to take a further hit.

So just three months and three games after signing, would Mir benefit from a loan spell away from Molineux?

Perhaps. A short period at a lower league club would give Mir the chance to acclimatise to domestic football at senior level and adapt to the major differences between the Spanish and English games.

As he showed at Valencia, he has perhaps outgrown youth team football and would thrive in the professional game. Wolves should give Mir the chance to show his talents elsewhere for now.