Wolverhampton Wanderers confirmed the arrival of Rayan Aït-Nouri on a season-long loan, one say before Ruben Vinagre was loaned out to Olympiacos.
The timing is no coincidence and shows that our transfer strategy doesn’t stop just because we’ve had one disappointing acquisition. Here’s hoping Aït-Nouri succeeds where Vinagre failed at Molineux.
What went wrong for Ruben?
The 21-year-old initially joined on loan from AS Monaco in 2017 and turned his move permanent in 2018. He’s gone on to make 70 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals with two assists, but never managed to nail down a starting place for a lengthy period of time.
- 2017/18 (Championship): 9 appearances (627 minutes), 1 goal, 1 assist
- 2018/19 (Premier League): 17 appearances (703 minutes), 0 goals, 0 assists
- 2019/20 (Premier League): 16 appearances (644 minutes), 0 goals, 0 assists
- 2020/21 (Premier League): 2 appearances (172 minutes), 0 goals, 0 assists
Jonny Otto has been preferred at left wing-back under Nuno Espirito Santo, but his Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury opened the door to Vinagre to get extra opportunities.
Despite starting three of our five games this season, we still didn’t feel Vinagre was worth keeping and have allowed Olympiacos the chance to sign him permanently.
We only spent £2m on the 21-year-old and paid him £1.5m-a-year/£30k-per-week, so it wasn’t an expensive gamble.
What can we expect from Aït Nouri?
An attacking threat and impressive defensive attributes. As shown from his Ligue 1 performances at SCO Angers last season, the 19-year-old is dominant in the air (18/25 aerial duels won), lays on opportunities for teammates (43 crosses made, 9 chances created), is comfortable on the ball (36.2 passes attempted per game) and can take on his opponent (19/35 successful dribbles).
Aït Nouri has blocked 22 shots/passes/crosses, made 25 clearances, only gave away a foul every 107 minutes and averaged a tackle (29) or interception (18) every 27 minutes. He’s only been dribbled past once every 117 minutes too, so not a lot gets past him.
Summary
It’s sad that Vinagre may have played his last game for Wolves, but Aït Nouri looks an exciting replacement and possibly an upgrade. Here’s hoping he can earn himself a permanent deal by impressing over the course of the campaign.
In other news, Ryan Bennett has an uncertain future at Wolves amid Premier League interest
