Why Benik Afobe Would Be A Great Signing For Wolves
Championship big spenders Wolverhampton Wanderers are leading the chase to sign Bournemouth front man Benik Afobe. The Congolese striker is wanted by Wolves’ Premier League neighbours West Bromwich Albion too, though Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are favourites to land him in a £8million swoop.
Afobe played for Wolves between 2014 and 2016, netting 23 goals for the West Midlands side before being snapped up by Eddie Howe’s ambitious Bournemouth. But with Joshua King improving by the day, Callum Wilson returning from injury and now Jermain Defoe freshly acquired, there seems to be no place for the man who has struck 10 Premier League goals in 46 games.
Wolves have moved to distance themselves from the rumour; though it seems like fans would happily welcome back Afobe to complement what is an increasingly good looking squad for the upcoming Championship season. Although his move away from the club was somewhat controversial at the time, clubs in this division cannot afford to turn down this sort of quality when it is offered.
The club’s defensive and midfield signings so far have been ambitious, of good quality and well researched ones. But one area that still screams under-resourced is their striking department.
Mason, Bodvarsson and Dicko are already known to not be the sort of players who will lead a title challenge from the no.9 position, and the fact that they are joined in the squad by Nazon, Enobakhare and Collins seems to indicate that Wolves have found themselves with quantity and not quality up front.
Spending £8million on someone with proven goal scoring ability at this level can end up looking like a bargain and just about every team promoted automatically in the past have shown that a player of this type is necessary.
For my money, Wolves are right in there with a chance this season, after their smart looking signings so far and the promise of more to come. But the make or break for them is finding a player who will grab them 20+ goals in the league on his own.
Afobe, first of all, can definitely do that for them, and is in a price range which makes this transfer wholly realistic. Other such players, for example, Chris Wood, would demand twice the price in the market which makes them too big a risk. Going foreign and cheap for a striker is a risk of a different type and not one that a club chasing promotion to the Premier League should take.
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