Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Vitor Pereira is hoping that he can keep the likes of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Cunha at Molineux over the next couple of days amid interest in the pair.
If so, the Old Gold have a solid chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship. So far, the club have made just one signing, bringing defender Emmanuel Agbadou to the club from Stade Reims.
Will Pereira raid the transfer market over the next couple of days? He could attempt to raid a Premier League move that looked signed, sealed and delivered.
Wolves looking to hijack move for Premier League defender
According to Ben Jacobs, who was speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Wolves are keeping an eye on Aston Villa-linked player Axel Disasi ahead of making a potential swoop in the coming days.
The £80k-per-week centre-back has agreed personal terms with the Villa Park side, but a fee has yet to be sorted between them and Chelsea, offering the chance for the Old Gold to ‘pounce’.
Transfer Focus
This leaves the door ajar for Wolves to make their own approach to sign the Frenchman and attempt to hijack the deal.
Pereira appeared close to signing another defender, with Kevin Danso managing to agree personal terms with the top-flight side, but a fee has yet to be worked out in order to seal the deal. Indeed, the Austrian is now being heavily linked with a move to Juventus.
Disasi is currently out of favour at the Blues. Could he be a better signing than Danso should he join Wolves rather than Villa?
Why Wolves should sign Axel Disasi
The former AS Monaco star joined Chelsea two years ago, becoming a key member of the squad under Mauricio Pochettino. Under Enzo Maresca, however, he has been forced to operate at right-back occasionally, making just 17 appearances in all competitions.
Only five of those have come in his preferred centre-back position, which indicates that a move elsewhere will allow him to play in his natural slot at the heart of the defence.
Metric (per 90)
2023/24
2024/25
Accurate passes
64.3
42.2
Tackles
1.1
1.2
Total duels won
4.3
2.2
Key passes
0.1
0.3
Possession lost
8.3
5.5
Despite the lack of game time, he has still shone when compared to his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues. The 26-year-old ranks in the top 10% for non-penalty goals (0.14), progressive carries (1.29) and successful take-ons (0.5) per 90. These statistics show just how much of a forward-thinking defender he is.
In comparison, Danso ranks only in the top 50% for non-penalty goals (0.04), the top 43% for progressive carries (0.67) and the top 42% for successful take-ons (0.2) when compared to his peers in the top five European leagues.
Elsewhere, Disasi also loses possession fewer times per game than Danso (5.5 vs 11.1), wins a higher percentage of aerial duels (71% vs 64%) and wins possession more (0.3 vs 0.1) in their respective domestic leagues.
The French centre-back was dubbed a “monster” by journalist Rahman Osman during his first full season at Chelsea, but it is clear his future doesn’t appear to be bright at Stamford Bridge.
Pereira should be doing all he can to hijack his move to Villa, that’s a certainty.
Their best since Neto: Wolves make move to sign £160k-p/w "magician"
Wolves have never really replaced Neto
ByJoe Nuttall
