It has been a very tough start for Wolves so far this season, and one player is having a bit of a nightmare.
Wolves have picked up just one point from their first six Premier League games of 2025/26, and are facing a big battle to stay in the division this season.
There are several reasons for Wolves’ struggles, but arguably the biggest is that the recruitment was questionable.
Not only did Wolves sign players without Premier League experience, but most of the new additions came in late – meaning Vitor Pereira has not had much time to work with them.
Frustratingly, a number of players have come nowhere close to playing to their best level.
And one man who has massively underwhelmed so far, is Jose Sa.
Jose Sa is the lowest-ranked Premier League player so far
Jose Sa was the go-to pick for Pereira last season for Wolves.
The Portuguese came in and really settled on his fellow countryman, after Gary O’Neil had been chopping and changing between him and Sam Johnstone.
And Sa did relatively well.
But this term, it’s been a different story.
Data has indicated that Sa has made just five saves so far, conceding 11 goals and not keeping a single clean sheet.
Embarrassingly for the Portugal international, he actually ranks as the worst Premier League player so far on WhoScored.
He has an average rating of just 5.76 from the four games he has played.
Right now, he is one of just two players to have an average rating below 6.0, the other being Leeds United’s Ao Tanaka (5.98).
Sam Johnstone has golden chance
With Wolves being rock-bottom of the Premier League table, there was always going to be a chance the lowest rated player would be someone from Molineux.
Emmanuel Agbadou might have been a contender, having had a woeful start. Agbadou has been directly at fault for two goals, and looks a shadow of the player he was last season.
But it’s Sa who ranks as the worst according to WhoScored’s metrics – and he must improve when called upon again.
But that may not be for a while, because Sam Johnstone is performing really well right now.
Johnstone has had a bumpy ride since signing from Crystal Palace last year, but he’s now having a purple patch and must seize his opportunity with both hands.
He will surely start again this weekend against Brighton, and so long as he doesn’t make any glaring errors, one would suspect he’ll keep his place after that.