Wolves must be so frustrated now that £6.5m Wallace deal collapsed

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Wolverhampton Wanderers reportedly agreed a deal to sign Wallace from Serie A outfit Lazio.

Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota might have hogged the headlines as Wolverhampton Wanderers finished seventh in the Premier League and qualified for Europe for the first time in 40 years last season, but a dependable, well-drilled defensive line was the platform upon which their success was built.

A former Norwich City bench-warmer, a Liverpool reject and a Frenchman who had never played in England’s top flight before; Ryan Bennett, Conor Coady and Willy Boly will not have struck fear into the heart of opposition strikers at the start of last season.

But it quickly became apart that Nuno Espirito Santo, in his preferred 3-5-2 system, had found a way to make Wolves’s back line far greater than the sum of its parts.

The Black Country giants conceded just 1.2 goals per game in 2018/19. But, after a horror start to the new campaign, that average has soared to 2 goals per game with Wolves letting in eight during their last two matches against Chelsea and Wolves.

Coady looks a shadow of the player who had fans clamouring for an England call-up last season while Bennett has fallen strangely out of favour, usurped by Real Madrid loanee Jesus Vallejo. The Spanish U21 captain hardly looked a player befitting of the 13-time European Champions as he was ripped apart by a Tammy Abraham-inspired Chelsea at Molineux.

And Wolves were their own worst enemy again on Thursday as Braga triumphed in the Europa League opener, thanks largely to stay pass from Bennett.

So it’s tempting to wonder how different things might have been if a bargain, £6.5 million deal for Lazio stopper Wallace had not collapsed in the final few days of the transfer window.

According to Cittaceleste, the move fell through due to work permit issues with Wallace, a Jorge Mendes client, forced to stay in Serie A.

The tight-knit nature of Wolves’ squad means Nuno doesn’t really have the option of taking Coady, Vallejo or Bennett out of the firing line for an extended period and Wallace could have offered some much needed depth in a defence that is suddenly looking very flimsy.