The future of Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina is up in the air.
The Gabon international has endured a pretty torrid season after such a superb campaign in 2023/24.
After winning Supporters’ Player of the Season last term, Lemina has experienced an alarming downward trajectory at Molineux.
After assuming the captaincy following the sale of Max Kilman, Lemina’s performance levels dipped.
It seems as though the responsibility was weighing heavily on him, and his emotional reaction after Wolves’ defeat to Liverpool was concerning.
Lemina then lost his head after the defeat to West Ham United, as he tangled with Jarrod Bowen as well as some of his own teammates and Shaun Derry. Following this, Gary O’Neil stripped him of the captaincy.
Vitor Pereira suggested today that he expects Lemina to leave – and there is one player who might be hopeful that he does.
Mario Lemina could open the door for Boubacar Traore at Wolves
Few would have predicted at the start of the season that Lemina might be leaving Wolves in January. But here were are.
Seemingly right now it’s a case of when Lemina goes and not if, and his exit would make things interesting. A few clubs have been linked, with Galatasaray the latest club to be showing interest in Lemina.
Speaking on The Keen and Judah Show, journalist Liam Keen said Pereira was desperate to sign another defensive-minded midfielder to cover for Andre and Joao Gomes.
But one wonders if Wolves actually already have that player.
Boubacar Traore got injured for Wolves in the Carabao Cup game with Burnley, which was extremely frustrating for all involved.
After that happened, it came out that Traore had been lined up for a loan move to Feyenoord. So the injury scuppered his move.
Before his sacking, Gary O’Neil gave an update on Traore, suggesting he might have been back in training by the end of December.
With Lemina’s future up in the air, Traore will surely be hoping that the former captain does indeed seal a move away, as this would make it easier for him to get minutes when he returns.
He is not so dissimilar to Joao Gomes and Andre in that he is a tenacious ball-winner, and he doesn’t tend to play that high in the midfield, making him ideal cover for the Brazilian pair.
Wolves may loan Traore out
While Traore may be hoping to stick around at Wolves for the second half of the season, it could well be that the club decide to loan him out.
The Mali international has missed a lot of football so far this term, and it wouldn’t be easy for him at Wolves even if Lemina did leave.
He’s got to get up to speed, and Wolves officials may feel he’s better off doing that away from Molineux.
Feyenoord were reportedly set to sign him before his injury so it’ll be interesting to see if the Dutch giants come calling again this month, with Hugo Bueno already there of course.