While there’s nothing to suggest the Molineux dressing room has turned on a coach who took Wolverhampton Wanderers from the Championship to the Europa League quarter-finals, one member of the squad will be taking a keen interest as doubts swirl over Nuno Espirito Santo’s future.
It is less than two years since Wolves paid £16 million to AC Milan for Patrick Cutrone.
But, in the space of just 18 months, the striker has gone from one of Europe’s brightest young poachers to the forgotten man of the Black Country.
Cutrone has started a grand total of three Premier League games in Old Gold.
And in January, just days after returning to the Black Country following an ill-fated loan spell at Fiorentina, Cutrone was sent packing once again, farmed out to Valencia after Willian Jose arrived in his place.
Even in the absence of Raul Jimenez, Nuno was unwilling to give the Italy international a chance.
But with Tuttomercatoweb suggesting Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso has been lined up as a potential replacement for Nuno at Molineux, the potential impact on Cutrone’s future feels like an intriguing sub-plot.
After all, it was Gattuso who gave Cutrone his big break at AC Milan during the 2017/18 campaign.
The Rossoneri academy graduate scored 18 times in a stunning breakthrough season at the San Siro and, since then, no-one has come close to getting the best out of a man once tipped to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Pippo Inzaghi.
“Compare him to Inzaghi? They certainly resemble one another,” Gattuso said in 2018.
If manager and player are reunited at Wolves, could Gattuso get Cutrone playing like Inzaghi’s heir once more?
Here’s what some Wolves fans had to say about the situation on Twitter:
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
