BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand has praised Wolverhampton Wanderers’ signing of Willian Jose, citing the player’s movement as a particular strength of his.
The Brazilian made his debut for the club against Chelsea last night, replacing Daniel Podence without around 20 minutes to go.
Jose’s inclusion actually came as a welcome surprise for fans, who knew the club had been battling to secure him a work permit.
There was to be no debut goal for the South American, but arguably he saved Wolves a point by blocking Kai Havertz’s header right at the very end of the game.
With the team not showing too much offensively last night, there will be some Wolves fans hoping to see him from the start against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Jose’s arrival has prompted real optimism, and Ferdinand has thrown his backing behind the move.
Speaking on BT Sport before the game last night, he said: “He’s someone, I’m sure, when you’ve got the likes of Adama Traore on one side and (Pedro) Neto who loves to put the ball in the box… this guy can finish.
“He scores the scruffy goals, he scores the goals from in between the posts.
“When that ball is getting flashed across the goal, he can put the ball in the back of the net.
“He can hit the ball off both feet and he’s got good movement in and around there, he knows where to be. That’s what they need, that’s what they’ve been missing.”
Jose may increase Neto assists tally in particular
With positioning one of Jose’s main strengths, it would be no surprise from here to see Pedro Neto’s assists tally increase.
The 20-year-old has been Wolves’ most creative player this season, and has been firing crosses in all season without too much success.
But that could soon be about to change with the experienced Jose more likely than Fabio Silva or Patrick Cutrone to get into the right positions.
Traore is without an assist so far this season and hopefully the Spaniard will also benefit from Jose’s arrival.