A lot of Wolves fans are feeling a little worried about the state of play at the club at the moment, with the 2022/23 season now almost upon us.
Wanderers have enjoyed a productive pre-season so far, but the lack of transfer activity so far has been slightly alarming.
Only Nathan Collins has come in so far, and a string of players have already departed.
The injury to Raul Jimenez has only added to the frustrations, and there’s certainly an uneasy feeling right now.
But at least Bruno Lage has been getting a tune out of the squad in pre-season, and there’s one man in particular who has looked really good in recent weeks.
Rayan Ait-Nouri is heading into his third season at Molineux, having spent the 2020/21 season on loan before turning the move permanent ahead of 2021/22.
Ait-Nouri showed promise in his first term, dazzling supporters with his quick feet and attacking style.
In season two, we saw him drastically improve his defensive qualities.
Potentially, Ait-Nouri could be in for a fantastic third campaign with Wolves.
In Alicante he was excellent against Deportivo Alaves and Besiktas. Against the latter, he laid on a truly world-class assist for Daniel Podence.
The £10 million star‘s trajectory has been exciting to observe so far. Quite possibly, this is the season he will truly get people standing up and taking note.
Rayan Ait-Nouri set for stormer of a season with Wolves
This term, Ait-Nouri won’t have Fernando Marcal for competition.
The Brazilian was well liked by Lage, and was used in rotation with the Frenchman in 2021/22. Arguably, that stopped Ait-Nouri from building true rhythm. While he did impress, he did lack consistency a little.
But Ait-Nouri should be the regular this season. Jonny Castro Otto is an option too, but the youngster is in fine fettle and should at least be starting the season as the number one choice.
He’s got a couple of seasons under his belt now, and is a more mature player than the one that first came in from Angers.
You can tell with Ait-Nouri that is someone with great confidence in himself.
Once he is able to find consistency and improve his decision making, Wolves will have one unbelievable prospect on their hands.