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Report: Clubs eye £80m man with more dribbles than Zaha and more chances created than Sterling

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According to ESPN, Manchester City, Juventus and Barcelona are eyeing Adama Traore this summer and could make a move for the Wolverhampton Wanderers wide-man this summer. Traore is happy at Molineux, but ESPN believe he could be on his way out if Wolves miss out on Champions League football.

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Which club did Wolves sign Raul Jimenez from?

The 24-year-old has made 83 appearances in all competitions since joining from Middlesbrough in 2018, scoring seven goals with 15 assists. As per WhoScored, he’s contributed 13 goals in 25 Premier League starts this season, making 166/227 successful dribbles, creating 43 chances and whipping in 40/167 accurate crosses.

Traore’s had more successful dribbles than Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (151/245) and more created chances than Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (42), so there are few wingers better at their job than the £80m-rated Spaniard.

As things stand, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are sixth in the Premier League table, but they may not need to finish in the top-four to secure European football. If Manchester City are banned from European competition, a fifth-placed finish may enough for Wolves – they’re currently three points adrift of Manchester United.

It remains to be seen whether Traore would request a transfer this summer, but a lot of clubs are putting the pressure on. ESPN say Manchester City need a replacement for Leroy Sane after losing him to Bayern Munich while Juventus want long-term alternatives for their ageing forwards Cristiano Ronaldo (35), Juan Cuadrado (32) and Douglas Costa (29). Barcelona could make a move next year.

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.