We're only just over a week into the January transfer window, but Gary O'Neil and Wolves have already lost a couple of strikers. First, Fabio Silva was allowed to join Scottish Premiership outfit Rangers on loan until the end of the season, and then Sasa Kalajdzic followed him out the door, this time returning to Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Between them, Silva and Kalajdzic made 19 appearances in the first half of the Premier League season, but they were only on the pitch for a combined 419 minutes as O'Neil favoured other options. However, he can't be expected to lose two players and not sign a single replacement, and that's why Wolves have reportedly escalated their interest in PSG's Hugo Ekitike.
Ekitike was first linked with a move to Molineux in the spring of 2022, when Bruno Lage was still the manager, with journalist John Percy reporting that the club had been watching him. Then, earlier this month, Wolves reportedly lodged an enquiry about signing the 21-year-old.
Wolves table Ekitike proposal
According to French outlet L'Equipe, Wolves have approached PSG with an offer to sign Ekitike on loan. Bundesliga club Wolfsburg have been also been "studying the possibility", but the difference is that Wolves' proposal includes an option to buy at the end of the season.
While those two clubs have been the "most urgent" up to this point, there's a feeling that Ekitike "will have no shortage of suitors" as he slowly gets closer to a departure from PSG.
It was only last summer that the reigning champions signed him permanently for a fee of around £25m, having initially taken him on a season-long loan from Reims. He scored four goals and provided as many assists in 32 appearances in 2022/23, starting 12 Ligue 1 games, but he's hardly featured this term.
Ekitike hasn't taken to the pitch since PSG's season opener, when he made an eight-minute substitute appearance, and was apparently "banished" from their Champions League squad because he refused to join Eintracht Frankfurt on loan as part of a deal for Randal Kolo-Muani.
11-goal season will excite Wolves
Ekitike finds himself in a miserable situation at PSG, with his big move seemingly ending his tatters. He'd earned the switch to the Parc des Princes with a dazzling breakout season at Reims though, where he scored 11 goals and provided five assists in 26 appearances. As the table below shows, he was among the most efficient, creative and clinical players in the division that year.
Goals
0.71
4th
Assists
0.31
7th
Goal contributions
0.92
4th
Goals above xG
3.5
9th
His form prompted manager Oscar Garcia to declare that "there is something very special about him", while journalist Julien Laurens dubbed him an "amazing talent". Wolves will believe that the player is just waiting to be unlocked in an environment where he can play much more regularly – after all, he's still only 21, so he has ample time to press the reset button on his fledgling career.
