Wolves, along with a host of English outfits, are reportedly monitoring the prospects of Southampton goalkeeper, Alex McCarthy. The 28-year-old has only 12 more months left in his contract and the Wanderers would not mind bringing in a shot-stopper who is well tested in the Premier League waters.
McCarthy managed to snatch the number one spot from Ben Foster earlier in the 2017/18 season, appearing in between the posts 33 times. Mauricio Pellegrino was forced to drop Foster after his inconsistent displays in front of the goal and McCarthy has acted as the reliable backup.
The Englishman maintained his poise and played a huge part in saving Southampton from the drop to the EFL Championship. No one really expected him to be this integral for the club so late into the season after watching him take the pitch 7 times for the U23 side in September and October.
Even Mark Hughes favoured him over Foster late into the season which allowed the rest of the league to finally take note of the 28-year-old’s goalkeeping abilities. McCarthy used to play for Reading during his early years and even made 75 appearances for the club before switching to Queens Park Rangers.
The Guildford-born player never was the uncontested starter with any side he played for previously. During his seven-year association with Reading, he spent 8 stints on loan to clubs like Yeovil Town, Brentford, Leeds United and Ipswich Town.
It was always a dreary way for any player, spending most of his minutes off the pitch rather than being out there with the rest of his teammates. It was a similar case with QPR and Crystal Palace where he picked up just 10 senior team appearances in total.
He was even overlooked by the Southampton management before Foster’s inadequacies were brought to light. Wolves would be more than lucky to have a keeper of McCarthy’s pedigree in their squad.
The current number one at the Molineux is John Ruddy with Carl Ikeme as the second string option. The latter has been out of action for quite a while now, which leaves Will Norris as the only backup option.
Ruddy has done well for the side and has prior top-flight experience as well. Even he has a single season left in his current contract with no talks yet of a possible extension.
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It cannot be said for certain that McCarthy would be an upgrade to Ruddy but Wolves can certainly afford to look into the option since he is younger and can be a long-term option for them.
