Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Steve Bull has praised the impact that club record signing Adama Traore has made as an impact substitute recently.
The former Middlesbrough man has had to settle for a bench role of late, and while Bull admits he’d like to see him start more, he concedes that it’s going well at the moment.
“Adama Traore got the assist [against Newcastle] and, fair play to him, he is our super-sub at the moment,” he wrote in his Express & Star column. “Whether he comes on for five minutes or half-an-hour, he tends to make an impact.
“Of course, it would be nice to see the record signing starting more games – but it is a squad game these days. You don’t necessarily have to play every minute of every game now. Nuno knows how to treat them all, and is getting the best out of them. Using Traore in short bursts has been working a treat.”
OPINION
You do tend to think that club record signings should be starting games, but that’s not the way it works these days. Nobody is entitled to anything, and Traore’s performances this season don’t warrant a starting spot ahead of the likes of Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota. He’s not really made an impact since joining the club, aside from that late winner over West Ham United at the start of the season. Since then there’s been precious little impact made by the Spaniard, and so Bull’s comments don’t make complete sense. Yes, he got the assist against Newcastle on Monday, but aside from that he’s not really done much as a starter or substitute. He needs to do more than what he’s been doing to break into Wolves’ starting eleven. Until then, as Bull says, he’ll have to content himself with a role as a late-game substitute. It’ll take more than one assist to for his status to change, that’s for sure.