Wolves fans have very high hopes for Jhon Arias this season.
Arias is Wolves’ marquee signing of the summer so far, joining the club for around £18 million from Fluminense.
Arias has immediately taken the number 10 shirt, and Arias is a player Wolves will expect to make an impact from the off.
By all accounts this is a signing that could work out really well.
Wolves received resoundingly positive character references about Arias as they considered signing him, and his numbers at Fluminense in terms of goals and assists were really solid.
Arias can also take penalties, although Jorgen Strand Larsen will probably be the favourite to step up when the opportunity arises.
But Wolves fans have been suggested to sit tight if Arias does step up to take one this season.
Jhon Arias penalty-taking style will have Wolves fans nervous
Last season, Wolves were not awarded a single penalty in the Premier League.
That is a somewhat strange occurrence, and fans will hope there is an over-compensation for that this season.
Strand Larsen could be Wolves’ new taker after the sale of Matheus Cunha.
But we’ve seen Hwang Hee-chan step up in pre-season, and miss before converting the rebound.
Arias – who says he is looking to improve his English – can also take penalties. But Nathan Judah suggests it may not be a fun experience to watch him, after seeing his style in training.
The journalist said: “Judging by the training game that we went to… it was Hwang, Arias and I think Fer Lopez taking penalties and we thought ‘Oh, here we go, let’s see what they do!’
“And Arias steps up and oh my God, I mean, if he takes a penalty for Wolves this season, he is going to give you a heart attack.
“Because he comes up with a short run up, very, very slow. And then, you think he can’t get any slower, and then he stutters, so he’s still moving so it’s a legal penalty, but stutter, stutter, stutter, stutter, stutter, and then slowly strokes it in.
“When I say strokes it in, he hit it straight at (Jose) Sa on his first attempt. I look at you (Liam Keen) and I go ‘Oh God’.
“Then Fer Lopez steps up and bangs it 20 yards over the crossbar, I’m like ‘Oh God’. Hwang converts, but I think they all missed one out of about four in the end and it looks a lot better after that. But it was just quite a funny moment, we’re like ‘Oh no’.”
Liam Keen added that Arias did that run up on every single one of his penalties.
Jhon Arias’ penalty record
So it seems that Arias has an unconventional style when it comes to taking penalties, but is he successful with it?
Data shows that Arias has taken 12 penalties in his career – all of those for Fluminense.
He has scored nine and missed three, giving him a decent conversion rate of 75%.
Strand Larsen hasn’t really had many opportunities to take penalties in his career, but has never missed when he’s stepped up.
He has taken three for the Norway U21s, scoring every time for a 100% success rate.
Perhaps Wolves’ number nine will be the man Vitor Pereira selects for spot-kicks now that Cunha is gone.