Wolves cannot let Nottingham Forest sign £16m ace Bruno Lage needs

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Nearly three years ago, Roberto Mancini was quizzed about the future of the Italian national team. Specifically, the future of their frontline. 

And there was one name on the Azzurri boss’ lips. It wasn’t Giacomo Raspadori, Moise Kean, Lorenzo Lucca or Gianluca Scamacca either.

“Italy’s next striker? Pinamonti,” Mancini told Radio Deejay in October 2019. “He is the future of the national team. He is improving.” 

Flash forward to August 2022, and Raspadori, Kean and Scamacca have over 30 international caps between them. Raspadori could soon be on his way to Juventus after bursting onto the scene with Sassuolo, while his former Mapei Stadium team-mate Scamacca joined West Ham in a £30 million deal in July. 

Lucca, meanwhile, is on his way to Ajax.

Pinamonti, however, is still awaiting his chance at international level. Mancini may believe the Inter Milan youngster is ‘the future’, though he’s been reluctant to give Pinamonti a chance in the present.

But after a terrific loan spell at Empoli – during which he scored 13 Serie A goals for a bottom-half team – there’s an unmistakeable air of optimism surrounding Pinamonti again. An optimism that was nowhere to be seen 12 months ago, when the 6ft 1ins frontman was starting to feel like the forgotten man of Italian football. 

Could Wolves finally sign Inter Milan’s Andrea Pinamonti?

According to Corriere dello Sport, Nottingham Forest are in talks with Inter regarding a potential £16 million deal for the goal-poaching Pinamonti. But there is another Premier League club crying out for attacking reinforcements between now and September. A club who have been watching Pinamonti from afar, on and off, for the last four years (FC Inter News). 

And with Wolverhampton Wanderers heading into Saturday’s curtain-raiser away at Leeds United shorn of the injured Raul Jimenez, now feels like the opportune time to come calling again.

Pinamonti, after all, is exactly the sort of forward Wolves like. Young, at just 23, strong in the air, an excellent link-man, and boasting plenty of re-sale value. There’s a touch of the Jimenez’s about him, and after so many years ripping defences apart at youth level, Pinamonti has finally made his mark at senior level. 

‘The future’

“He’s a great professional,” says Pinamonti’s former Empoli coach Aurelio Andreazzoli last season.

“He isn’t afraid of pressure and always proves himself with his goals. The experience with (Antonio Conte) and the top players at Inter was important for him. Now he can only continue to improve.”

With Inter bringing back Romelu Lukaku and retaining Lautaro Martinez, Pinamonti looks set to be on his way out of the San Siro for good before September’s transfer deadline.

And if Wolves are to right the wrongs of last season, they must ensure Nottingham Forest do not have a free run at a man who, after being labelled ‘the future’ of Italian football, is finally starting to prove himself in the present.