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Opinion: Wolves should consider move for 26 y/o after missing out on Nelson Oliveira

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Wolverhampton Wanderers tried to sign Nelson Oliveira in January but couldn’t agree on a price, so the deal fell through – AEK Athens wanted £5.5m for the 28-year-old but Wolves were unwilling to pay more than £3.8m.

The Midlands outfit still need a striker to provide cover for Raul Jimenez next season, however, so could Ludovic Ajorque be the answer? The 26-year-old isn’t well known outside of France but has enjoyed a prolific season with Racing Strasbourg and could be an ideal signing for Nuno Espirito Santo.

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Which club did Wolves sign Raul Jimenez from?

Ajorque joined Strasbourg from Clermont Foot for £1.8m in 2018 and has gone on to make 64 appearances in all competitions, scoring 22 goals and making seven assists. Like Oliveira, he can operate as a target man, holding up the ball to bring others into the attack, and he wouldn’t break the bank either.

CIES Football Observatory rated him at €10m-€15m on March 11 while Transfermarkt rated the 26-year-old at £7.65m on March 13.  Ajorque has had a hand in 16 goals in 35 games this season and would be an improvement on the likes of Leonardo Campana and Renat Dadashow.

As per WhoScored, the 26-year-old has created 16 chances, completed 70.3% of his 495 passes, won 115 aerial duels (58%), had seven successful dribbles (36.8%), had 50 shots with 44% hitting the target, won 21 free-kicks and made 15 tackles. Ajorque has even been touted for a callup to the French national team.

He’s not as agile or skilful as Jimenez, but he’s a player who could do a similar job in terms of bringing others into the attack. Burnley and Crystal Palace have scouted a game the Frenchman featured in, but he doesn’t appear to be on the radar of any Premier League clubs.

Wolves may be free to sign Ajorque if they please.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.