Pablo Sarabia is enjoying a terrific season at Wolves and now Gary O’Neil has dropped an incredible amount of praise for the Spaniard.
Many are standing up to applaud the job that Gary O’Neil has done at Wolves as it is truly remarkable what he’s achieving.
The Wanderers were tipped to be scrapping towards the bottom in August, but fast forward six months and the club are flying towards the European spots, with only three points separating them from seventh-place Brighton.
There has been much to admire about the relentless consistency and finer details he demands from his players, and several have seen their stock and value skyrocket since he took charge.
Matheus Cunha’s transformation from zero to hero has stolen the headlines and while the Brazilian has enjoyed an unbelievable campaign, he isn’t the only one in that regard.
Pablo Sarabia, who Wolves signed for just £4 million from PSG a year ago, is now flourishing in gold and O’Neil believes he is a truly unique player.
Gary O’Neil believes Pablo Sarabia is unique
While Sarabia has made himself an indispensable member of O’Neil’s team currently, the start of his career at Molineux was a struggle.
Under the tutelage of Julen Lopetegui last term, the Spaniard scored once in 13 appearances and began this season as a frustrated member of the bench in most matches.
But now he’s leaving his mark on the Premier League having created the most chances in the division.
O’Neil believes that in a league full of extreme athletes who are powerful or fast, Sarabia falls into an elite category of player who uses his intelligence and technical ability to truly thrive.
Speaking to the Athletic, the Wolves boss said: “You don’t see quite so many players of the Pablo Sarabia type anymore — players who survive and thrive purely through their intelligence and technical ability.
“It can be difficult in such a physical league to impact football matches but his intelligence, his work rate and his quality with his left foot are such that he finds ways to affect things, and he opens up things for other people to show their strengths.”
Sarabia has gone under the radar
Although Sarabia has played with some of Europe’s elite across his career, including Kylian Mbappe and Messi at PSG, his rise to stardom at Wolves has gone under the radar.
The 31-year-old started the campaign as somewhat of an outcast and wasn’t expected to play a prominent role in O’Neil’s plans.
Fast forward six months, and he’s now made 18 appearances in the top flight, assisted six times and is almost guaranteed a place in the starting XI currently.
Yet, due to the sheer amount of talent that has improved under O’Neil, Sarabia’s transformation isn’t talked about enough, but it should be.
The talented playmaker is now a crucial piece to the puzzle and is proving himself to be a bargain after Wolves snapped him up for £4 million a year ago.