Wolverhampton Wanderers may face a battle to keep hold of Barcelona-loanee Francisco Trincao for next season, should Bruno Lage consider him part of his plans.
What’s the word?
That is according to a report from Sport Witness (via TEAMtalk), who claim that the West Midlands side face competition from Liga Portugal side Sporting CP, who have made the former Braga man a “priority.”
As per the report, Sporting manager Ruben Amorim is the man who has made Trincao the club’s priority signing, with the 37-year-old having managed the Barcelona-loanee when the pair were at Braga.
Sporting understand that Wolves have an option to buy clause as part of the loan deal that saw him make the temporary switch to Molineux, though reportedly remain confident in completing a deal for the 22-year-old with Wolves undecided on activating the option to buy clause.
According to Transfermarkt, the loan cost Wolves £5.4m with the option to buy clause set at £25m.
Should Wolves purchase Trincao?
Goncalves 2.0
Trincao’s future at Wolves is entirely dependent on Lage’s decision. Whilst he has managed just two goals and one assist in 27 Premier League games, there have been glimpses of the player that struck eight goals and eight assists in 27 appearances for Braga just two seasons ago.
Going by the expected goals tally, Trincao, who has been described as a player who can make a “massive impact”, should have four goals this season, which whilst is still not exceptional for a player of his talent, would see him rank as the Old Gold’s third-highest goalscorer behind Hwang-hee Chan and Raul Jimenez who have notched five and six goals respectively.
With Trincao being one of two left-footed forwards at the club, he offers Lage an unorthodox option throughout the role of an inverted winger, and with the recent switch in tactics to a counter-pressing 3-5-2 system, the Portuguese attacker could massively benefit from such a direct approach.
As it stands, the Barcelona loanee has just two more games to prove his worth, with Lage yet to make a formal decision on the matter. He will have to decide pretty soon though amidst the expiring loan deal and severe interest from Sporting.
However, judging by the impact Pedro Goncalves has made since swapping Wolverhampton for Lisbon, the Old Gold could be staring down the barrel of another disastrous transfer decision.
Since moving away from Wolves, the fellow Portuguese star has scored 38 times in just 77 outings. The last thing Lage would want is a repeat scenario of that.
In other news: Wolves plot bid to sign “terrific” £12m-rated gem who “runs the show”, Lage needs him
