Wolves could sign a “1v1 specialist” who is Sarabia’s dream upgrade

Wolverhampton Wanderers they are blessed with plenty of attacking talent, some of which has worked well so far despite a difficult 2024/25 season. Of course, the best in the group was Matheus Cunha, who ten goals and four assists in the Premier League this season, more than any other Wolves player.

Another player who plays almost as well as the Brazilian is striker Jorgen Strand Larsen. His loan spell from Celta Vigo has so far been successful on a personal level, and he has scored seven goals and two assists in the first division this term.

However, one player who has not performed well this season is experienced striker Pablo Sarabia.

Sarabia’s 2024/25 season so far

It has not been a good campaign for Spanish striker Sarabia. He simply failed to break into the team under previous manager Gary O’Neil, or the current boss Vitor Pereirawhich is perhaps surprising given his experience.

The 32-year-old has played for some big clubs throughout his career. He made 151 appearances for Sevilla in La Liga, played 98 games for French giants Paris Saint-Germain and 48 times for Portuguese club Sporting.

You might think that with all that experience, Sarabia would be a really important player for Staro Zlato. However, there is played only nine times in all competitions this term, scoring once in the Premier League in a 2-0 win against Southampton.

Overall, Sarabia’s record for the Midlands club is not great, with just six goals and ten assists in 58 appearances. Despite the experience he brings, he undoubtedly left a lot to be desired during his time at Molineux.

Therefore, it might not come as a surprise to learn that the Old Gold are considering new attacking signings, and their Spanish striker could be in line for a replacement if this deal goes through.

Wolves’ dream build-up to Sarabia

The player in question is the Moroccan national team member Zakaria Aboukhlal. The 24-year-old, currently plying his trade at Ligue 1 side Toulouse, is said to be ‘top’ of the list for Wolves, according to a report by Foot Mercat at the end of last week.

The report says the Midlands club are ‘keeping a close eye on the Toulouse star and are hoping to land him’, citing his versatility as the reason they want to bring him in in the next few weeks.

Indeed, he has played on the front line for the Ligue 1 side this season, but has done most of his work as a right winger, making him an equal replacement for Sarabia, who also pays well there.

This season, the Moroccan representative impressed with six goals and two assists in 17 games. Arguably his best moment came in the 3-0 win over Montpellier, where he scored twice and provided an assist, contributing to all three goals.

As for his profile, the 24-year-old is described as a “1v1 specialist” football analyst Ben Mattinson. It certainly highlights one of his greatest attributes, his threat in one-on-one situations against a defender, where he won’t shy away from tackling his player.

Indeed, this sheer volume and ball-handling ability from Aboukhlal may be one of the reasons why they are interested in signing him. Actually, statistics on FBref from the 2023/24 campaign. suggest that he is a better holder than Sarabia. Last season’s numbers were used to essentially get a larger sample size.

In 90 minutes last season, the Toulouse star averaged 2.74 progressive carries and 0.95 successful take-ons. Both of those numbers are better than Wolves’ No. 21, who averaged 2.11 progressive carries and 0.88 successful takedowns per game.

There is no doubt that Aboukhlal would be an upgrade on Sarabia. The Moroccan winger would bring great ball-carrying and a big one-on-one threat, which the Spaniard simply doesn’t offer, as the stats show. He is also someone who can score and create goals and has done so more than Sarabia this term.

This could be an incredibly smart signing for Old Gold, adding quality depth and a unique threat to their side that they don’t really have in that true number ten position.