Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost their opening two Premier League matches to Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, scoring twice and conceding eight goals in the process.
Despite the quality of opponents meaning Wolves were far from favourites in both games, the manner of the losses, especially against the Blues, could be a cause for concern.
Could this see Gary O’Neil make a move for another centre-back before the transfer window slams shut on Friday evening, as it is clear the Old Gold need to replace the departed Max Kilman.
Wolves plotting move for Championship defender
According to GIVEMESPORT, Wolves are debating whether to offer either Anel Ahmedhodzic or Teden Mengi an escape route from the second tier.
This could see the Molineux outfit make a potential late move for either of the defenders as they look to replace Kilman, who joined West Ham United for £40m earlier in the transfer window.
Despite interest in two players, O’Neil will likely only bring one new player to the club. Judging by their statistics from last term, it should be the Luton Town centre-back – who is also coveted by Torino – that emerges as the preferred option.
Teden Mengi’s season in numbers
The former Manchester United youngster failed to make the grade at Old Trafford, playing just two senior games for the club, enjoying several loans in the process.
He finally moved to Luton last summer and went on to play 30 matches in the Premier League, scoring once.
The defender ranked in the top five among his teammates for clearances (4.5), tackles (1.8) and interceptions (1.9) per game in the Premier League, as per Sofascore.
While he impressed within his own squad, Tengi impressed among his own peers too. Across Europe’s top five leagues, the 22-year-old ranked in the top 2% for interceptions (2.08), the top 12% for clearances (5.1) and the top 17% for tackles (1.97) per 90, proving how effective at the back he was last season.
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Comparing Teden Mengi & Anel Ahmedhodzic in the Championship this term |
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|---|---|---|
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Metric |
Mengi |
Ahmedhodzic |
|
Accurate passes per game |
40.7 |
40 |
|
Tackles per game |
1.3 |
1.5 |
|
Dribbled past per game |
0 |
1 |
|
Ground duel success rate per game |
100% |
50% |
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Balls recovered per game |
3.7 |
2 |
|
Clearances per game |
2.3 |
3.5 |
|
Interceptions per game |
2 |
0 |
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Stats via Sofascore |
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Compare these stats to those of Ahmedhodzic, and it becomes clear who would be the better signing. The Sheffield United defender did rank in the top 9% among his peers for tackles per 90 (2.19), but only ranked in the top 26% for clearances (4.62) and the top 39% for interceptions (1.21) per 90.
So far this term, Mengi has won 100% of his ground duels in the second tier while not being dribbled past at all in three games. The Bosnian, on the other hand, has won just 50% of his ground duels along with being dribbled past once on average per match.
This should see O’Neil make Mengi the priority target in the final couple of days of the transfer market in order to finally fill Kilman’s shoes in defence. The youngster was even dubbed “astounding” by manager Rob Edwards during their season in the Premier League.
This experience would stand him in good stead ahead of a potential move to Molineux before the 11pm deadline on Friday evening.
