Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Rafa Mir proved his ‘very high potential’ with a hat-trick as SD Huesca narrowly defeated lower league Marchamalo in the Copa del Rey first round on Tuesday, as reported by Heraldo.
Given that the former Valencia youngster lost his place in Huesca’s La Liga XI, he certainly had a point to prove as the Spanish cup got underway last night.
So what better time for Mir to score the first treble of his professional career as the top-flight newcomers survived an almighty scare to beat their fourth-tier opponents 3-2 away from home?
“He is taking steps forward and has a very high potential,” Huesca coach Michel said at full-time.
“(He has to) keep working to achieve what we demand. He can provide good numbers in the League and the Cup.”
Wolves fought off competition from none other than Real Madrid when they snapped up one of the hottest young strikers in European football in January 2018.
Nearly three years on, however, Mir has struggled to live up to lofty expectations, making just four appearances in Old Gold and none in the Premier League.
But, with Wolves’ lack of firepower laid bare by Raul Jimenez’s injury-enforced absence, the now 23-year-old Mir has the perfect opportunity to remind his parent club why they fought so hard to sign him in the first place.
The 6ft 3ins targetman has six goals in Huesca colours, his height and movement inside the penalty area giving La Liga defenders plenty of headaches.
An eye-catching performance against Real Madrid in October, when Mir tore £43 million defender Eder Militao apart, had been the highlight of his season – until last night’s hat-trick, of course.
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