Wolves keeping tabs on £79k-p/w Kalajdzic upgrade who is outscoring

Wolverhampton Wanderers had a strong run of success over the Christmas break, winning the Premier League over Brentford, Chelsea, and Everton while drawing the third-round FA Cup match against the Bees last week.

Although Gary O’Neil will surely be happy with this kind of performance, he may soon have to make a decision about his attacking alternatives.

Hwang Hee-Chan is travelling for South Korea’s Asian Cup on international duty, and Sasa Kalajzdic and Fabio Silva have been loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt and Glasgow Rangers, respectively.

Only Matheus Cunha will be able to lead the line for the former Bournemouth boss going forward, and he will need to sign a new center-forward during the January transfer window.

Although Hugo Ekitiké has only played eight minutes of football this season and might need some time to get used to the Premier League, his name has recently been linked to a move to the Old Gold.

Could O’Neil perhaps sign someone who is currently in form this month? As Spanish striker, Borja Mayoral has emerged as a player of interest.

Latest on Wolves’ hunt for a striker

Wolves are monitoring Mayoral in preparation for a possible move for him this month, according to TEAMtalk, but they aren’t the only English team interested in the center-forward.

The other teams who are keeping an eye on the Getafe player are Arsenal and Crystal Palace. According to the report, he may be available for as little as £20 million, which would be a great deal.

Losing three strikers in the space of a few weeks suggests O’Neil will be desperate to bring in at least one attacker this month and a deal to sign Mayoral could be shrewd business, especially as he is an upgrade on Kalajdzic.

Borja Mayoral is a big upgrade on Sasa Kalajdzic

In his very first game for Wolves in 2022, the Austrian striker had a season-ending knee injury. He didn’t play again until the start of the 2023–2024 season.

The 26-year-old made it through 13 games for the Old Gold, scoring three goals along the way, but he only made three starts. It was clear that O’Neil didn’t think the player would be there for the long run, so he sent him out on loan to finish the season.

Mayoral has had a significantly more productive season than the former Stuttgart striker, so signing him would be a huge coup.

In fact, the current Getafe forward has been the more potent threat in the opposition third this season as evidenced by the fact that he has not only scored 12 goals against 2, but also recorded more goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (0.36 vs. 0) and progressive carries (22 vs. 1).

Mayoral has also registered more shots on target per game (1.1 vs 0.2) while averaging more key passes per game (0.8 vs 0.4) and succeeding with more successful dribble attempts per game (0.7 vs 0.1), which is yet more evidence of the Getafe hitman enjoying a far more productive season than Kalajdzic.

The £79k-per-week forward is having his most productive phase of play, so it’s not surprising that he’s leading Getafe. After all, he’s had a lot of accolades throughout his career, most notably from former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, who praised him in 2017 following a strong showing for the team:

“Today, Mayor has demonstrated that he is present with us and has a role to play. Given the chance, he performed admirably. He gave it his all, not merely in terms of his objective.

Even this season, the former AS Roma star has outscored Hwang; if O’Neil signs him this month, it will be interesting to watch how the two complement each other.

How Borja Mayoral compares to Hwang Hee-Chan

Losing the South Korean striker for the next three to four weeks may be disastrous for Wolves, as he has been in incredible form this season, netting 11 goals and dishing out three assists in 21 games.

Despite having played one more game than Hwang, Mayoral has scored 14 goals and contributed an assist this season across all competitions.

The Old Gold may benefit from having someone like Mayoral in his starting lineup, perhaps alongside Hwang, as the two center forwards have similar goal outputs of 14 and 15, respectively.

The former Red Bull Salzburg forward’s outstanding scoring record this season can be attributed to his skill at finishing, according to WhoScored. He also plays a style of play that involves a lot of dribbling and frequently poses a threat on the counterattack.

While his style of play tends to emphasize more long balls, the Spaniard excels at passing and headed attempts, as shown by his four headed goals in La Liga this season. Between them, the two might be a successful combination for the Molineux side.

Mayoral may provide the team an elite, winning attitude. He has played for giants like Real Madrid and Roma in his career, winning the Champions League with the former in 2018.

With 70 senior goals scored in 257 games, the 26-year-old has a respectable, if unspectacular, goal every 3.6 games.

But his unsettling start to the 2023–24 campaign would suggest that he is becoming into a more reliable goal scorer for his team, which would encourage O’Neil to take serious action to sign him in the upcoming days.

Naturally, before adding any new players to Molineux, the team may need to let go of one or two players, and this may be the sole obstacle to signing Mayoral.

The manager has to sign a striker, not because he wants to, and this could help him as he searches for his first January addition.