Wolverhampton Wanderers have made just one signing during the January transfer window, bringing Emmanuel Agbadou to the club from Rennes, bolstering Vitor Pereira’s defensive options in the process.
The Old Golf also looked like they were closing in on a deal to sign Manu Silva last week before it fell through at the last minute as Benfica hijacked the move.
With just over a week left of the winter window, the manager will be aiming to add another signing or two before it closes, especially with the Molineux side in a precarious position towards the bottom of the Premier League table.
More importantly, however, in terms of survival purposes, Wolves will be keen to keep a hold of several of their key players.
Left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri is a player who attracts interest whenever the window opens, but it is Matheus Cunha who has plenty of admirers.
The Brazilian has been one of the few bright sparks for the Old Gold this season and losing him at this stage would almost certainly guarantee a miserable few months ahead, no doubt about that.
Wolves have to keep a hold of Matheus Cunha
Across 21 Premier League games for the Midlands side, Cunha has scored ten goals while registering four assists. Indeed, of the 32 top-flight goals Wolves have scored throughout 2024/25, Cunha has directly been involved in 44% of them.
This is enough to prove just how vital he is to their cause of remaining in the league, but Pereira will have a difficult job of convincing him, especially when there are far bigger clubs out there ready to stretch their financial muscles and make a big for the former Atlético Madrid man.
According to Sky Sports, Nottingham Forest are ready to launch a club-record bid to bring Cunha to the club, with the report also stating that Arsenal are another team who are considering making an offer.
A fee in the region of £60m could be enough to tempt Pereira to sell this month, although it doesn’t give him much time to sort out a replacement.
Having raked in over £90m last summer by selling Pedro Neto and Max Kilman, the club are not in a hurry to sell the centre-forward, despite the interest.
The £60k-per-week talisman will still be at the club unless something extraordinary happens in the next few days, which Pereira will do his best to avoid.
One player he should be actively looking to move on, however, is Fabio Silva, who is currently on loan at Las Palmas in Spain.
Wolves could sell Fabio Silva
According to TEAMtalk, Atletico Madrid are showing interest in signing Silva this summer and they could look to strike a deal with Wolves over a potential transfer.
Atlético defeated Las Palmas earlier this season, but Silva’s performance impressed Diego Simeone and the club have monitored him since then.
He has impressed throughout the La Liga season for his temporary side, scoring a winner against Barcelona, while also netting in the first minute against Real Madrid, although that game ended in defeat.
Much will depend on the fee Wolves will demand for Silva, as Pereira should be keen to get him off his books as soon as possible, that’s for sure.
Fabio Silva’s Wolves statistics
Eyebrows were raised across Europe when Wolves splurged a staggering £35m to sign the 18-year-old back in 2020.
Considering he had played a grand total of 21 senior games before making the move to England, the signing was a massive gamble indeed.
Across his first two seasons at Molineux, Silva managed to find the back of the net just four times for the senior side, failing to live up to the hype generated by his inflated transfer fee.
It was clear that his future lay away from the club, and he spent the entire 2022/23 season out on loan, playing for both Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven.
He hit his stride away from the Premier League, netting 11 and five goals respectively for both teams, and it looked as though Wolves were ready to cash in on the striker.
| Fabio Silva’s stats since joining Wolves | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Goals | Assists |
| 2023/24 (Wolves and Rangers) | 35 | 7 | 0 |
| 2022/23 (Anderlecht and PSV) | 51 | 16 | 6 |
| 2021/22 (Wolves) | 28 | 1 | 3 |
| 2020/21 (Wolves) | 37 | 6 | 3 |
| Via Transfermarkt | |||
Gary O’Neil gave him a second chance at the club, but once again, he failed to shine, and it was another loan move, this time to Glasgow Rangers midway through 2023/24.
His spell in Glasgow didn’t quite go to plan either, scoring only six goals for the Gers during the second half of the season, failing to impress the ever-demanding Ibrox faithful.
Former Rangers’ player Derek Ferguson criticised the forward, saying: “Silva offers you absolutely nothing. He must have a clause in his contract that he starts every game because on his past five, six performances he’s been nothing short of woeful.”
It wasn’t long before he was on the move again, joining Las Palmas last summer, but it appears as though he has adjusted well to life in La Liga. As mentioned, the 22-year-old has scored against the two biggest teams in the country and could seal a move to Atlético.
It would be wise for Pereira to consider any offers, especially considering the Portuguese youngster is currently earning a staggering £80k-per-week at Molineux.
To put this into perspective, Silva is taking home £20k-per-week more than Cunha. Given the circumstances surrounding their usefulness at the club, it is clear who should be earning the higher wage.
If Cunha remains at the Old Gold, then they will have a great chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship and can potentially entertain offers in the summer, where they will have more time to find a replacement.
Selling Silva will allow Pereira to raise some funds to help speed up this process and his current form for Las Palmas will help aid the cause.
He has just 18 months left on his deal with the Midlands side, which indicates that this summer is the final chance for them to sell him for a decent transfer fee.
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