Boubacar Traore’s world was rocked when he picked up a serious injury during Wolves Carabao Cup tie against Burnley in August.
Traore was set to sign for Feyenoord in the summer transfer window, joining Hugo Bueno at the Dutch giants, only for injury to deny him the chance to play regular football.
It’s been a trialling few months for the Malian midfielder, being powerless to help his Wolves teammates on the pitch.
However, Traore returned to training in January, which marked a major boost in his road to recovery, with the 23-year-old since making the bench in Wolves 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Although the midfield powerhouse is yet to feature under Vitor Pereira, he’s done one thing in training that has surprised the Portuguese tactician.
Vitor Pereira was shocked by Boubacar Traore’s aggression
For most of the time Pereira has spent at Molineux, he’s only seen the Malian international in a state of recovery, with injury masking his best attributes.
Now the midfielder is back to full fitness, the Wolves manager has been surprised that the £9.5 million signing Traore is a ‘fighter’, as it wasn’t possible to see his aggressive nature previously due to his injury.
“Bouba is surprising me because now I can see he’s a fighter,” Pereira said via the E&S. “Now I can see, before it was not possible because of the injury in his knee.
“People said to me’ Bouba is a fighter, he’s aggressive’, but because of the injury I didn’t see it.”
Pereira praised Traore previously, and it appears he wants him to play a vital part in his plans for the remainder of the season, outlining the competition for places centrally.
“Now he is starting to compete for a position. Before I had problems in the middle, but now to select the players to play I need to think a lot and try to be fair.
“But I’m a happy coach because I have solutions in the middle.”
Marshall Munetsi’s advanced position change could benefit Traore
Wolves saw Mario Lemina exit for Galatasaray earlier this month while midfielder Marshall Munetsi was captured in a £16.6m transfer from Reims.
Munetsi was added to the squad for his ability as a box-to-box midfielder alongside his goal threat, with the latter standing out.
In the absence of Jorgen Strand Larsen, Munetsi has been used as a striker, coming off the bench against Liverpool in that position and nearly scoring past Alisson.
| Marshall Munetsi vs Liverpool | Statistic |
| Minutes played | 45′ |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Shots off target | 1 |
| Big chances missed | 1 |
| Ground duels (won) | 4 (3) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 2 (1) |
Dave Edwards was impressed by Munetsi, seeing him as a ‘proper striker’, despite never playing there in his career.
The 28-year-old could now start in an advanced role against Bournemouth this weekend, and if he does, this will benefit Traore as it will open up an extra midfield slot.