Wolves’ hunt for a centre back continues and USA tour positives
A look at Wolves as they traveled to the US for a preseason tour.
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00:00Wolves are still on the search for a centre-back. Will they need to hurry that on as the window
00:10progresses with Max Killman heading out? That also leaves the hole in their captaincy, which
00:14I believe Mario Lamina has stepped up in these pre-season games. It's certainly a situation
00:21they need to address. Jose Mosquero might not be able to be trusted too highly on in
00:27the Premier League week in, week out. What do you think is the best sort of solution
00:31for Wolves?
00:32They definitely need to bring in a new signing without a shadow of a doubt because they've
00:36not got that depth. As you say, there's that uncertainty with Mosquero. I know he played
00:40well at Villarreal last season in La Liga, but La Liga is a different kettle of fish
00:44to the Premier League in a physical sense. How high the press is, I think he would have
00:48had a bit more time on the ball in Spain and that's no disrespect to the Spanish top flight.
00:52It's of course one of the best in the world and it always has been. Real Madrid absolutely
00:57tearing out Walter Shreds as well as the players that they've got on their ranks.
01:00But they're not playing Real Madrid every single week and I think the overall quality
01:04of the Premier League is a lot different to La Liga. It is a different stage, it's not
01:08proven yet in England. Can O'Neill trust him straight away, as you say? I'm not too sure.
01:13Of course, Toti Gomez played really well last season, but he filled in more as a left-back
01:17or a left-sided centre-back. Santi Bueno got some minutes, but not consistently enough
01:22perhaps. Craig Dawson, of course, he's a very experienced player, very good player, but
01:27he's getting older, his pace is dwindling a bit. The answer really then is to sign a
01:31new centre-back. A decent one that's been linked is Jacob Brien, who's at Lyon. An Irish
01:37international who made that move to France. Quite a brave one, but it's paid off for him
01:41because he was a regular in Ligue 1, of course now a full Ireland international as well.
01:46Six foot five he stands at, he's good at passing out from the back, aerially dominant and he
01:50should be available for about £20 or £25 million. But Nottingham Forest, Everton, Brentford,
01:56they're all interested, so it won't be easy for Balls and they might have to get a hurry on.
02:01On their pre-season plans, now into the United States of America, a fantastic opportunity
02:09for them to grow their fan base that way and get some more exposure. They'll play West
02:14Ham, Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig I believe as well. All across America, they're starting
02:19off obviously in Miami and then games across the States. It's fantastic. There's not really
02:25many negatives to actually having a trip to America and getting your brand out that way
02:30because it's such a fantastic place to go and do that, grow things, grow your revenue,
02:36grow your brand. It just puts walls on the map even more.
02:40It's a really good opportunity for the players as well to go and have that experience. It
02:45should bring the squad even closer together. Togetherness was such an important part of
02:49last season with the squad dwindling through injuries. They still managed to get through
02:52because they were fighting for each other and fighting for the badge. This is going
02:55to increase the fan base hopefully as well. With Hwang Hee-chan on the books in Asia,
03:01they've had so many fans coming over and getting excited about that. But just by going over
03:05to America, you might pick up a few new fans. It's a growing sport in America, obviously
03:10into Miami where they're based at the moment, Wolves. They've been growing exponentially
03:15with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, all led by David Beckham.
03:20I'm not saying Wolves are going to be able to acquire anyone like that or they're not
03:23going to get the Inter-Miami fans on board, but it at least grows that awareness. It's
03:28not just the Manchester United and the Liverpools and the Premier League. There are clubs like
03:31Wolves as well that are very exciting and hopefully some fans will jump on board.