Opinion: Nuno should consider Wolves youngster against Espanyol, has built up match fitness
Renat Dadashov should be given a chance to prove his worth for Wolverhampton Wanderers when they lock horns with Espanyol in the last-32 of the Europa League on Thursday.
Nuno Espirito Santo named the 20-year-old in Wolves’ Europa League squad in January and is expected to rest a number of first-team players for the knockout round like he did in the group stages.
Wolves’ last European outing was a 4-0 win over Besiktas (December 12, 2019) and saw Max Kilman & Oskar Burr start, Owen Otasowie & Taylor Perry coming off the bench and Andreas Söndergaard, Lewis Richards & Luke Cundle being unused substitutes.
Dadashov built up his match fitness representing the u23s in Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, so he should be ready for Thursday. Time will tell if Nuno selects him, however, because Dadashov has not long returned from a failed loan spell in January.
The Azerbaijan international struggled for form and playing time at FC Pacos de Ferreira and has so far been overlooked by Nuno in the first-team. But Wolves are desperate for cover in attack, so why not consider Dadashov in a backup role?
