Wolves are on the verge of sealing their first signing of the January transfer window, with Emmanuel Agbadou arriving from Ligue 1 side Reims.
Wolves quickly established towering Ivorian centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou as their priority defensive target after Kevin Danso refused a transfer to Molineux.
The Old Gold agreed a £15m transfer for the 27-year-old last week and now, Agbadou looks set to sign a 4.5 year deal at Wolves.
Agbadou is now completing his medical in France before flying to England to complete his transfer to Wolverhampton.
Vitor Pereira will be delighted once a deal is finalised, especially after watching Wolves lose 3-0 against Nottingham Forest on Monday night.
However, it isn’t just his 6 foot 4 frame and towering defensive presence that will excite the Portuguese manager as he’s equally good with the ball at his feet.
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Emmanuel Agbadou ranks 3rd in Ligue 1 for most successful long passes
Pereira wants his defenders to be comfortable with the ball, and that is exactly why Agbadou has been sounded out as a priority target.
The Ivory Coast international has averaged an 87% pass completion, 5.5 progressive passes per game alongside 1.5 shot-creating actions this season.
Impressively, the defensive brute also places third in Ligue 1 this term for most successful long passes (77), per data journalist Nathan Evans.
This just shows how impactful he is with his long-range passing and vision, with Agbadou capable of playing line-breaking balls.
Wolves require someone with extra ball-playing class to take responsibility on the ball and as the metrics delineate, Agbadou looks like the perfect candidate.
Agbadou can be Wolves saviour in Premier League survival hunt
Wolves are eyeing another defender on top of Agbadou but in terms of his profile, the giant centre-back could be their saviour this term.
With Craig Dawson ageing and incapable of playing every game alongside the inexperienced Santi Bueno, Pereira only has two fit senior centre-backs currently.
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That is because Toti Gomes and Yerson Mosquera are out injured, leaving Wolves a bit short defensively and requiring Matt Doherty to play in the back three.
Luckily, with Agbadou’s arrival imminent, he could be a huge game-changer in the fight for survival. Of course, Ipswich have signed Wolves target Ben Godfrey however, their other rivals still haven’t done business.
So, Pereira could have gained the upper hand by winning the race to sign Agbadou, who looks like the complete defender.