Wolves in talks to sign exciting £17m Kilman replacement

Wolverhampton Wanderers might have approached the 2024 summer transfer window with an air of frugality but Gary O’Neil and the Old Gold transfer team have worked hard to make some exciting early signings.

While the potential departure of the £60m-rated Pedro Neto hangs on the wall like an unpleasant old painting, Wolves have already strengthened with the additions of winger Rodrigo Gomes and left-back Pedro Lima, both young, both talented, both sought-after by Premier League rivals.

Whether such expenditure alludes to Neto’s upcoming sale will become clearer in the next few weeks, but given that O’Neil is still set on bolstering further positions, there is cause for positivity at Molineux.

Wolves lining up another signing

According to Dutch outlet 1908.NL, Wolves have been in contact with the representatives of Feyenoord defender Thomas Beelen, albeit not yet formally approaching the Dutch Eredivisie side.

The 23-year-old enjoyed a tremendous debut campaign under now-Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and would cost the Old Gold about £17m to prise away from Rotterdam.

Thomas Beelen’s style of play

Beelen arrived at a Feyenoord side that had just won the Eredivisie title and while he spent much of the opening half of the season as a substitute, the past few months paint a different picture, with Beelen starting 13 of Feyenoord’s final 14 league fixtures.

And he impressed too; as per Sofascore, the Dutchman completed 92% of his passes across the campaign, averaging 4.7 ballb recoveries per game and winning a whopping 73% of his ground duels.

Wolves would do well to snap him up before the suitor pool swells, especially given West Ham United are pushing to sign captain and star defender Max Kilman in a £45m deal, according to Fabrizio Romano.

While the Dutch top flight would be accepted to yield an inferior collective quality to the Premier League, Beelen’s ball-passing and -carrying metrics speak of his suitability, especially when compared to Kilman’s.

The Wolves skipper is undoubtedly an impressive defender, with his lofty price tag evidence of this, but £45m is a lot of money and if O’Neil and sporting director Matt Hobbs succeeded in redirecting it toward an exciting new addition, such as Beelen, it could prove to be quite the coup.

With O’Neil largely triumphing in inculcating his counter-attacking system into Molienux after being appointed in testing circumstances, Beelen could be the perfect addition to lift it closer to the fore.

With pace in abundance, Wolves emphasise runs in behind and Kilman is intrinsic in implementing its success, with a scorching Premier League heatmap speaking of his athleticism and ground-covering expertise, corroborated by an impressive average of 4.7 ball recoveries per game.

Now consider the fact that Beelen trumps the 27-year-old across every relevant metric. Whether this could be transmuted into Premier League performance remains to be seen, but he’s fast on the rise and would be an exciting addition, perhaps even leaving Wolves with nearly £30m profit.