Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 30-year-old goalkeeper Dan Bentley was signed in January for a bargain £49k.
The English goalkeeper joined Wolves from Bristol City as a back-up but forced himself into the line-up due to his impact on the dressing room.
He made his Premier League debut last season playing excellently against Manchester United as he was only beaten twice despite facing 27 shots.
The second appearance he made was in the 1-1 draw against Everton in the season’s penultimate game.
Bentley determined to play
Despite originally being signed to be second choice, since arriving Bentley has proven important and also impressed in his limited chances to date.
Speaking of his determination to become Wolves‘ number one, he told Express and Star:
“That’s the reason I’m here and that’s the reason why I do what I do every day, and the hard work that goes in is to get in the team and play every week,”
He continued, “I’ve been number one at every club I’ve been at and at no point did I ever dismiss the fact that I wanted to be a number one when I joined Wolves.”
Bentley then added that he is keen to impress through preseason with the hopes of earning himself a starting berth next season.
“It’s up to me to prove that I’m capable and worthy of being number one for this football club.”
Leadership is a huge bonus
Bentley was known prior to his arrival by the club for his leadership and experience in football.
This likely played a huge role in the reasoning for his signing, with Wolves keen to fill the void left by the departures of key figures like Conor Coady, Joao Moutinho and most recently Ruben Neves.
Since then he has also proven his value on the field, which makes his intentions of being number one interesting.
Could he potentially usurp Jose Sa ahead of this upcoming season? Sa certainly did himself no favours shipped five goals on the final day of the season.