Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolverhampton Wanderers reportedly want to bring Kerem Demirbay to the Premier League from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim.
Coming to the end of their first season back in the top flight, Wolverhampton Wanderers can boast an outstanding record against the Premier League’s top six.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and now Arsenal, vanquished 3-1 at Molineux on Wednesday, have all been defeated by Nuno Espirito Santo’s side this season with their counter-attacking style catching out the top flight’s very best time and again.
But there is a caveat to that impressive statistic. On the other hand, Wolves have been kept off the score sheet by Burnley, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Watford. They even failed to score in both games against bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield.
And there is a rather obvious reason. Wolves have the speed to take teams apart on the counter but they struggle to open up defensive sides who sit deep and task Nuno’s speed-heavy team with opening them up.
So that is where Kerem Demirbay comes in. According to Calciomercato, Wolves are keen to sign Hoffenheim’s German international this summer with an affordable £22 million release-clause in his contract (Bild).
In short, Demirbay is exactly the sort of player Wolves need if they are to match their top six record against the bottom six. He is a natural number ten as opposed to a jet-heeled winger, capable of carving apart deep-lying blocks with his incisive passing and pinpoint delivery.
Demirbay has nine assists to his name this season, most of those coming from his favoured central midfield role. He is the missing link Wolves are crying out for. Forget £22 million, that is priceless.
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