Francisco Trincao’s Wolves career may have hit a turning point on Friday night despite the dramatic 3-2 defeat against Leeds.
Trincao was not even included in Bruno Lage’s starting 11 for the game, but got his chance to shine when Ruben Neves limped off midway through the first half.
He wasted no time making his mark, scoring and laying on a goal ahead of the interval which had them in cruise control before Raul Jimenez’s harsh red card changed the game.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, that has caught the eye of the Spanish press, with Mundo Deportivo writing a rave review of the winger’s substitute appearance.
They wrote that it was his best game for Wolves, hailing his ‘howitzer’ to make it 2-0 after laying on Jonny’s opening goal.
They also wrote that Barcelona may also re-evaluate their asking price for Trincao if he keeps playing well, as they look for ways around paying Adama Traore’s purchase option.
One of those includes a potential swap between the wingers, but Trincao would need to keep playing well on a consistent basis to make that more worthwhile.
Trincao was the first Premier League player to score and assist as a substitute in the first half of a match since April 2013, when Frank Lampard did it for Chelsea against Swansea City.
That’s a nice little stat and it was an impressive display but Wolves need more consistency from the winger after the international break as they look to get over that late body blow.
When Trincao joined on loan, the plan surely cannot have been for him to score his first league goal in mid-March, but it is to be hoped he can kick on now.
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