Despite many believing they would be in the running for relegation, Wolverhampton Wanderers had a fantastic season in 2023–2024.
Numerous people agreed with this sentiment, most notably Phil McNulty, chief football writer for the BBC, who said he had a “very, very worrying feeling” about Gary O’Neil’s Midlands team and projected them to finish 18th.
However, Wolves shocked everyone by finishing an outstanding 14th in the Premier League the previous year.
They were agonizingly close to finishing in the top half with 46 points at the end, 20 points clear of the relegation zone. O’Neil’s squad was only three points behind Crystal Palace in tenth place at the end.
Wolves’ star players made some significant contributions throughout the team. Their leading scorer, Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha, finished with 14 goals and an outstanding eight assists.
Pedro Neto contributed 11 assists and scored twice himself, while Hwang Hee-chan scored 13 goals and provided three assists as well.
Wolves have an excellent foundation to build upon under O’Neil thanks to this season.
During the transfer window, they have already been connected to a few players, but one man in particular is reportedly of great interest to the team.
Premier League attacker targeted by Wolves Armando Broja, a player for Chelsea and Albania, was on loan at Fulham for the second half of the previous season. The striker is now believed to have received permission to leave
Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Reputable Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas, at least, claims that Wolves is one of three Premier League teams, along with Everton and Southampton, that are reportedly interested in a deal for the Albanian, who will represent his country at Euro 2024 this summer.
Thomas notes in his assessment, nevertheless, that owing to present financial constraints, none of the interested teams—including Wolves—”can afford him.” So, in order to hire him, they would all “need to sell a player.”
Broja’s contract is still pending, but Football Observatory values him at £16.8 million.
It seems unlikely that he will cost less than that because his Stamford Bridge contract doesn’t expire until 2028. Chelsea might even ask more because, according to talkSPORT, they requested £50 million in January.
Why Broja might make a wise addition It’s safe to conclude that Broja’s expectations for the last two seasons have not been met.
He returned to Chelsea but failed to find opportunities after two productive loan stints, one with Vitesse where he scored ten league goals in the Netherlands and another with Southampton where he scored six goals in the Premier League.
In two seasons, he has made 25 appearances in the top level for the Blues, however in those 25 games, he has only scored twice and failed to score for Fulham.
In spite of this, he is still a capable center striker; in 2022, while he was still with Chelsea, one content producer called him “special.”
Nevertheless, should Wolves sign Broja, he may ultimately establish himself as Raul Jimenez’s replacement—the club record scorer in the Premier League.
Before suffering a horrific head injury against Arsenal that required eight months of recovery due to a fractured skull, the Mexican was one of the top scorers in the Premier League for two seasons, scoring 13 goals in 2018–19 and 17 goals in 2019–20.
After his recovery, Jimenez played two more seasons at Wolves but departed last summer for Broja’s loan club, Fulham.
They have struggled to find a proper centre-forward to replace him with, and although goals from Cunha have been crucial, it has at times felt like they have lacked a presence up front.
They scored 50 goals in the Premier League last term which was better than only five clubs, as per Understat.
Broja could be the solution, the same aforementioned content creator saying that his “ball-striking and physicality” are two standout areas of his game.
His physicality is certainly on show when taking defenders on. The Albania international averages 6.14 take-ons per 90 minutes and completes 2.49 of them per 90, both of which place him in the top 1% of attackers in Europe, as per Fbref.
Having a bullish, string centre-forward who take his chances in the box is exactly what this Wolves side could need to elevate them to the next level.
It has been a great start to the project under O’Neil, and a signing like Broja could help them push for higher honours next season.
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