Wolves face the huge task now of replacing Rayan Ait-Nouri, and one man in contention to do that is Hugo Bueno.
On Monday, Wanderers sold the Algerian to Manchester City for a total fee of around £36 million.
The Ait-Nouri fee has angered some Wolves fans, who believe he was let go for below his true market value.
It was always possible that Ait-Nouri could leave the club in this window given how long he’d been at Molineux and the season he just had.
But it still stings for a lot of people, and now Wolves have got to try and replace his output.
Molineux News was told earlier this year that Hugo Bueno stood a good chance of succeeding Ait-Nouri should the Algerian be sold.
That has now come to pass, and Hugo Bueno’s situation will now come into focus.
And Vitor Pereira has dropped a new hint over what will happen with the Spaniard.
Vitor Pereira ready to look at Hugo Bueno to replace Rayan Ait-Nouri
Ait-Nouri finished the 2024/25 season with the most goal contributions of any Premier League defender.
It is clear that his attacking output from that wide left position will be especially missed.
But Bueno is good in the final third as well, and is a pretty adept crosser of the ball. He got four assists in 30 matches at Feyenoord, so the hope is that he can show creativity when he returns to Wolves.
But will he be the man to replace Bueno? Pereira has hinted he might be.
When asked if Bueno could fill in as a centre-back, Pereira said (via E&S): “Bueno for me is more the guy to go and come back.
“More as a wing-back.”
When asked if he is looking forward to seeing Bueno in pre-season, Pereira added: “We’ll see. I think so.”
Big pre-season needed for Bueno at Wolves
It sounds as though Bueno is on Pereira’s radar, and that there’s a reasonable chance that he will indeed be Ait-Nouri’s successor.
But, of course, he has yet to play in front of Pereira, so he must now catch his eye in pre-season.
One would imagine Pereira will like him.
Robin van Persie hailed Bueno’s mindset recently, and also talked up his ability to drive into the final third.
Bueno loves Wolves and wants to play for the first-team regularly, so if he can just make a decent enough impression in the coming weeks, he will surely be lining up as the left wing-back at the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
Failing that, Gerard Martin could be an option for Wolves.
Clement Bischoff is also a left-back Wolves have looked at this summer after the youngster impressed at Brondby.