Wolves’ remainder of season looking positive as they continue fight to avoid the drop

National World - LocalTV

Wolverhampton Wanderers had a productive January transfer window, strengthening key areas of their squad. With a focus on quality signings, the club bolstered their midfield and defence, adding depth and competition in crucial positions.

Transcript

00:00So, Charlie, looking at Wolves and the January transfer window obviously now coming to a

00:07close, a bit of late business, a bit of business that was needed. Vitor Pereira stayed really

00:12confident throughout the window that, one, Wolves were going to stay in the Premier League,

00:16which was quite a bold claim at the time he said that, but he clearly sees a bit of future

00:20at the club and that there were more names coming in. Just tell us a bit about the names

00:25that have come in and how they can bolster Wolves' squad moving forward. I mean, obviously,

00:31Agbadoo's been absolutely fantastic in Wolves' defence in their last couple of games.

00:35Yeah, Agbadoo's the main one, signing in at the start of the window from Reims in France.

00:4127-year-old Ivorian centre-back for Ivory Coast International, and you can just see

00:46in the last four matches, played 90 minutes in all of them, he's been the standout player

00:50I think in that period, other than, of course, Mateus Kounia. Agbadoo, just such a strong

00:56yet quick centre-half, strong in the air as well, and they're areas that Wolves were struggling

01:01in so much, especially from set-pieces. You can already see how much of a difference he's

01:06made. But Vitor Pereira did want more depth at centre-back and he got that on deadline

01:10day. Nacer Dziga signing from Red Star Belgrade, about £10 million for him, one of the most

01:16expensive deals in Red Star history. He should be someone who can come in and provide a bit

01:21more cover at centre-back as well, potentially starting games, it waits to be seen. And then

01:26Marcial Monezzi in central midfield can play as more of a defensive anchor, kind of in

01:31the Mari Lamina role, and I think that's the thinking there, is Lamina's going to leave

01:35for Galatasaray. It's not been confirmed just yet, but with the window still open in Turkey

01:40for another five or six days at the time of recording until the 11th of February, he should

01:45be on his way out, and Vitor Pereira has got his man to replace him.

01:48Vitor is confident that Wolves will be a Premier League outfit. They've got those fixtures

01:54to play, like the likes of Southampton away, they've got to go to Ipswich, they've got

01:58to host Leicester. These are huge games. Where do you see Wolves' ambitions and Wolves' fortunes

02:06going in this sort of running now?

02:08I think the game against Aston Villa was a real sign of intent. I know Villa had to play

02:15three days after their Champions League game against Celtic, which was exhausting for them

02:18whilst at that game at Villa Park. But still, Wolves had a job to do against a team that's

02:23flying at the other end of the table, that's heading into the last stages of the Champions

02:27League. Wolves had lost four in a row before that game at Molineux against Villa. They

02:32managed to run out two nil victors, not only getting three points, but a clean sheet. And

02:36I think that is such a solid basis to try and build on. So much confidence can be taken

02:40from that.

02:41The news after the game that Matthias Kuhnje has signed a new contract, I think, is another

02:45huge boost for Wolves. If he'd left in this winter window, I think potentially Wolves

02:50could have faced a drop, but now they've kept their main man and they've got some reinforcements

02:53in defence, it's looking good and they should be able to beat the likes of Leicester and

02:57Ipswich.

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