Troy Deeney impressed by £10m Wolves star this season, and he’s not even hit top form yet

Wolves have had a very tough start to the new season but despite that, a number of players have still done fairly well.

Wanderers were likely always going to be near the bottom of the table at this stage of the season due to the difficulty of the fixtures.

But there is a feeling now that Wolves’ season can truly begin.

Wolves have much more reasonable fixtures coming up, and it’s a chance to get points on the board and move up the table.

Gary O’Neil has been backed by Fosun, and the expectation is that he will yield a decent enough tally of points over the next six games or so.

Perhaps key to Wolves moving up the table will be the form of Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has actually quietly impressed so far this season.

Rayan Ait-Nouri has been a threat for Wolves

Ait-Nouri was one of Wolves’ standout players last season, as he really responded well to the arrival of O’Neil.

He was famously frozen out by Julen Lopetegui at the end of the 2022/23 season, leading to speculation about his future at the club.

O’Neil brought him in from the cold though, and the Algerian reached a level we have not seen before from him.

This term, it has been a mixed bag for Ait-Nouri.

Wolves fans watched Ait-Nouri endure an absolute horror show against Chelsea in the second game of the season, and at times he has been a bit shaky playing as a more traditional left back.

But operating as a wing-back in the last two games has suited him more.

But while question marks remain over his defensive capabilities, Ait-Nouri has produced some very respectable attacking numbers so far in 2024/25.

After his goal on Saturday against Brighton, the star now has five goal contributions in nine appearances.

It also recently came to light that Ait-Nouri had a higher chances created per 90 metric than Diogo Jota.

Troy Deeney says Ait-Nouri is ‘playing really well this season’

Following his performance against Brighton on Saturday, Ait-Nouri has made it into Troy Deeney’s latest Premier League Team of the Week.

The former striker has been left impressed by the Wolves man, as he gave his verdict to BBC Sport.

He said: “I am playing him at left-wing back. Obviously he got a goal at Brighton but I think he has been playing really well this season, although obviously Wolves have not had a great season themselves.

“I thought give him a little bit of credit for his attacking prowess and defending well throughout the course of the season.”

Ait-Nouri has been improving lately after a difficult start. Certainly, his offensive statistics have been impressive.

With him, and it has pretty much always been this way, it is just about improving the defending. He’s got it in him and once he becomes more consistent, he will truly take his game to the next level.