Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt a major blow regarding the future of Francisco Trincao.
What’s the talk?
According to reports in Portugal (via Mundo Deportivo), Barcelona’s recently appointed manager, Xavi Hernandez, is looking for a way to bring the 21-year-old back to Camp Nou in the January transfer window, as the 41-year-old believes the winger would be an important part of his first-team squad at Barca.
However, the report goes on to mention the fact that Wolves paid Barcelona a €6m (£5m) fee to loan the Portugal international from the LaLiga side for the 2021/22 campaign, while the Premier League club also have a €30m (£26m) option to purchase the forward at the end of the current campaign.
This means that, should Xavi indeed begin negotiations with Bruno Lage’s side regarding Trincao making a return to Spain, Wolves would be entitled to some form of financial compensation.
Should Wolves let Barca take Trincao back?
Yes
No
Fans will be fuming
Considering just how impressive Trincao has been since making the move to Molineux back in July, should Wolves indeed go on to lose the services of the winger this winter, it would undoubtedly be a nightmare for the club, in addition to being something that would leave fans fuming.
Indeed, while the £19.8m-rated man is yet to directly contribute towards a goal over his eight Premier League appearances, the 21-year-old has created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.4 shots and making 0.9 key passes per game – ranking him first and fifth in Wolves’ charts for these respective statistics.
These returns have seen the player who Ronald Koeman dubbed an “excellent” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 6.84, ranking him as Bruno Lage’s eighth-best performer in the top flight of English football.
As such, it is clear for all to see that losing the services of Trincao in January would come as a massive blow to Wolves’ hopes of qualifying for Europe via a top-seven finish in the league this season, while the further prospect of not being able to sign the winger on a permanent basis will also be a devastating thought for Lage and his side.
In other news: Bruno Lage drops promising Wolves update which is sure to have fans buzzing