Wolves fans Manchester City on Friday night, and one player has the potential to see his stock soar even higher.
Vitor Pereira will look to make it seven wins in a row in the Premier League.
Such a run of form would have been unheard of only a few months ago.
But Pereira has completely transformed the club in just a matter of weeks, and this squad is now brimming with confidence.
City have struggled this season though. However, they are eight games unbeaten and appear to have turned a corner.
And there’s one potentially big boost for them ahead of the game with Wolves, because Erling Haaland has returned to training.
But Wolves fans probably aren’t as fearful of that as they perhaps might have been. Especially now that Emmanuel Agbadou patrols the backline.
Agbadou can send a major statement by keeping Erling Haaland quiet
Agbadou arrived at Wolves in January from Reims, with the club paying around £16 million for his services.
And after just a few matches, Wanderers fans knew that this was a serious bit of business by the club.
Agbadou claimed the Player of the Month award for January, and has been a shining light in pretty much every game he has played so far.
The Ivory Coast international has brought such steel to a previously soft backline, and he has also shown he can pass too.
But it is his actual defending that impresses Wolves fans the most about Agbadou, and his physicality makes him a fearsome opponent.
At the moment, Agbadou – who Marshall Munetsi recently branded ‘exceptional’ – is extremely appreciated by Wolves fans.
But he and the impact he’s made still isn’t fully known about beyond the Wolves sphere.
But things could change on Friday, as Wolves take on City at the Etihad – with the game to be televised.
Erling Haaland is back in training for City after injury and could very well start the game, and Agbadou will surely relish any battle with the Norwegian.
Agbadou has proven to be the most important Wolves signing in years
Wolves have made some very smart signings over the years.
There have been some brilliant bargains, such as Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and more recently, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Joao Gomes.
A couple of years ago, in January 2023, Wolves made two vital signings in the form of Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson, with both playing major roles in helping the club to survive that season.
| Emmanuel Agbadou for Wolves |
| Appearances – 14 |
| Minutes played – 1231 |
| Clean sheets – 6 |
But there’s now an argument to say that Agbadou is a bigger bargain than all of these players.
Agbadou was bought for £16 million. But he has genuinely operated more like a £60 million player in his first 14 games for the club. At times, he’s made it look absolutely easy.
Whoever scouted and was involved in bringing him to Molineux deserves major credit.