Wolverhampton Wanderers may reconsider their stance regarding the future of winger Adama Traoré, following Chiquinho’s season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, suffered in the club’s 3-0 pre-season victory over Burnley.
That is according to Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about Wolves’ potential transfer business ahead of August’s Premier League kick-off.
Traoré had spent the second-half of last season at Barcelona, with his time at Molineux seemingly coming to an end.
The Spanish giants had a £29m option to make the move permanent at the end of the loan, but chose against buying the Spaniard outright with the winger returning to Wolverhampton with just a year left on his contract.
It looked as though Tottenham Hotspur may have been in pole position to sign their former target earlier in the summer, but news on that deal has gone quiet.
And Wolves might have to reconsider their stance on the speedster, with Chiquinho’s ACL injury meaning that Traoré’s departure could leave the club understocked in wide positions for the upcoming Premier League season according to O’Rourke.
“It will definitely come into their thinking of what they might have to do with Traoré, with this unwanted injury to Chiquinho who is going to be out for the rest of season with an ACL injury.
“Nobody would have planned for his injury at Wolves and they would have been expected to have him available this season.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments
We believe that the best solution for Wolves would be to encourage Traoré, described by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp as “unplayable”, to sign a new deal at the club, which would enable them to at least sell him next summer for a fee, rather than lose him for nothing.
It seems increasingly likely that Traoré will be staying at Wolves this summer, with no offers incoming for the wideman, and it would suit all parties if the 26-year-old was to have a good season, with it potentially firing Wolves up the league, and earning the eight-time Spanish international a lucrative contract offer somewhere else, if that’s what he desires.
However, Bruno Lage’s side will need to make a decision on Traoré’s future as quickly as possible, with the Premier League season just around the corner.