Last week, when reflecting on Bruno Lage’s first few days in the Wolves hot seat, The Athletic reported the new manager had already spotted something that needed fixing.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, he feels, are far too vulnerable at the back. And Lage isn’t alone in coming to that conclusion.
While many at Molineux would love to put that miserable 2020/21 campaign in a time capsule and bury it 40 feet below the earth, never to be seen or heard of again, lessons simply must be learned from a campaign that saw one of the most ambitious projects in European football grind to a shuddering halt.
Wolves conceded 52 goals last term – 12 more than the season before.
The usually reliable Willy Boly and Conor Coady were a shadow of their formerly iron-clad selves and, according to The Athletic, Lage is desperate to ensure the problems that littered Nuno Espirito Santo’s final few months at Molineux are left in the past.
The former Benfica manager wants a commanding central defender – one capable of leading by example and remedying those debilitating set-piece ills – before the transfer window shuts on 31 August.
So, with that in mind, who better than James Tarkowski (Telegraph)?
Could Tarkowski bolster the Wolves defence?
As you might imagine, given that Tarkowski hones his talents under Sean Dyche, the England international is a monster in the air, an uncompromising and consistent presence at the heart of Burnley’s back line.
But to boil him down to a tendon-treading, tub-thumping, Terry Butcher tribute act would be very unfair, not to mention inaccurate.
Tarkowski’s passing range is as impressive as his tackling and, given that Lage is expected to bring his free-flowing, forward-thinking style to Molineux, the 28-year-old ticks about every box imaginable for a Wolves side crying out for a star centre-back.
Tarkowski may set Wolves back a club-record £40 million. But you get the feeling he would be worth every penny.
Here’s what some Wolves fans on Twitter had to say about the Tarkowski reports:
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
