Wolves could forget Manu Silva by signing the £12.6m ‘machine’

Wolverhampton Wanderers are targeting some January signings to strengthen their squad and help them fight relegation. Old Gold lost again in their last game, although it was a tall order to say the least. Away from home, they suffered a 3-1 defeat against top four challengers Chelsea.

Indeed, it only reinforced the need for more fresh blood in the squad during the second half of the January transfer window.

They are right now one place outside the relegation zone but they are level on points with 18th Ipswich Town. Each side has 16 points.

There has already been some transfer activity at Molineux this winter, although not all of it has been positive.

Wolves winter transfers

The only real work done so far by Vitor Pereira the 27-year-old Ivorian central defender Emmanuel Agbadou signed for the side. It cost Vukove a reported fee of £16.6m from the French side Reims.

So far, Bjelokovac is played three games for the old gold, starting twice in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup. He failed to stop Wolves scoring goals, and while not necessarily to blame, he was part of the defense that conceded three goals against Newcastle United and Chelsea.

There was to be another arrival at Molineux in the coming days. Wolves thought they had a £10m deal to sign Portugal midfielder Manu Silva, but a move for star Vitoria Guimaraes fell through.

Instead, he signed for another Portuguese team, Benfica, who ‘swapped in at the last minute’ according to talkSPORT. As the Aguias, under former Wolves boss Bruno Lage, are a Champions League side, they are naturally a formidable force for any player.

Staro Zlato will now surely review their midfield options as it is a clear area they want to strengthen. They have recently been linked with a Premier League star they could sign for.

Wolves’ Manu Silva alternative this month

The player in question is a Liverpool star Wataru Endo. According to a CaughtOffside report last weekWolves are one of several sides ‘monitoring the 31-year-old’s situation’ as he appears to be out of favor at Anfield.

The midfielder is also being targeted by several other Premier League sides, such as West London side Fulham and relegation battlers Ipswich. Celtic are also interested, as well as the Italian giants AC Milan. The Japanese star could cost more than £12.6m to complete the deal.

It was a difficult season for the experienced Japanese representative. He has played only 15 games in all competitions, with eight of those appearances in the Premier League. In total, the Liverpool native played 433 minutes, a total of 4.8 full games of 90 minutes.

However, don’t be fooled by the fact that Endo didn’t use the term much. He was a key player for Jurgen Klopp in his final season, played 43 times and scored twice from the base of the midfield.

Endo was a player that Klopp clearly loved, which showed not only in how much he played the Japanese midfielder, but how highly he spoke of him. Towards the start of his time at Anfield, said the legendary German boss “tackling” is a hobby for the midfielder. According to Klopp, he is also a “machine” in the middle of the park.

This is crucial as Wolves appear to be looking for a ball-winner and Endo could be the perfect alternative to Silva. Theirs defensive stats via FBref from top-flight football last season are similar, showing the kind of profile Wolves are looking for.

In 90 minutes last Premier League season, Endo averaged 3.56 tackles and interceptions and 5.65 turnovers. Compared to the Portuguese first division player, Silva averaged 3.65 tackles and interceptions and 6.45 turnovers per game.

Old Gold seem to want a ball winner to sit at the base of their midfield and break up play. Although they missed out on Silva, there is a great alternative for a low price, who could bring quality on the ball and more experience to Wolves.