Why Alhassan Yusuf would be a gamble worth taking for Wolves
According to the Birmingham Live, Wolverhampton Wanderers are keeping close tabs on Nigerian starlet Alhassan Yusuf, who currently plies his trade with IFK Goteborg in the Swedish top-flight.
The same report adds that Wolves had sent their scouts to watch the 19-year-old central midfielder in action last Saturday, as Goteborg beat Sirius 2-1 t the Gamla Ullevi Stadium.
Wolves, though, are not the only club to have registered an interest in the talented teenager, with the BlackCountry outfit expected to face stiff competition from Ajax, Anderlecht, as well as Premier League rivals Watford, in their pursuit of the midfielder. (h/t Birmingham Live)
The 19-year-old’s stocks are not quite up there with the brightest emerging prospects in Europe but he is regarded as a player with the potential to go on and play at the highest level by the coaching staff at Goteborg.
A youth product of Goteborg, Alhassan Yusuf only broke into the club’s senior side earlier in the ongoing season but he has seemingly shown enough promise in just 19 appearances at the highest level to convince some of the Premier League clubs of his abilities.
To that end, a chance to impress in English football could be a perfect reward for his rich vein of form in what has been a memorable breakthrough season for the Nigerian prodigy in the Swedish top-flight.
A central midfielder by trade, Yusuf is yet to register his first goal at the senior level for Goteborg but he has already earned rave reviews for his impressive range of passing and tough-tackling displays in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Wolves are yet to pick up their first win in the Premier League this term, which is, perhaps, a negative impact of their European adventures.
Nuno Santo, though, has plenty of time to turn things around and, with Wolves set to compete in the group stages of the Europa League, it makes perfect sense for the manager to look at talented youngsters in the market in order to bolster squad depth and also to build a strong platform for the future.
While Wolves have spent heavily over the past twelve months to build a first-team studded with exciting talents, they have also worked hard behind the scenes to pluck out some bright emerging prospects from all corners of the globe in a bid to supplement their youth and development ranks with some quality young talents.
The club’s youth recruitment drive has marked the arrival of several talented youngsters, including David Wang back in January, while Bruno Jordao, Renat Dadashov and Pedro Neto also came through the door earlier in the summer.
Wolves already have an envious pool of young talents at their disposal, thanks to the club’s ambitious owners and the efforts put in by the recruitment team, and they will be hoping to polish a few of those starlets into gems in the years to come.
There is always an element of risk involved in signing unproven youngsters, especially from the lower leagues in Europe, and while Yusuf certainly falls within that bracket, Wolves should consider it as a gamble worth taking, given that it might go on to reap rich rewards in the years.
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For the time being, though, Wolves should continue to monitor his development closely, as there is still a lot of time to go before the transfer window reopens in January.