Wolverhampton Wanderers completely blew their competition away in the Championship last season and went on to make some smart additions in the summer transfer period. They have had a decent start to this season with hard-fought home draws against Everton and Manchester City. However, a defeat away at Leicester City in the second gameweek left them with just 2 points in 3 league matches despite their impressive early displays.
Nuno Espirito Santo took his side to West Ham United on Saturday, hoping to earn a result away from home. Both teams threw everything at each other but were unable to find the back of the net. The Wolves boss decided to bring Diogo Jota out of the game just after the hour mark and replace him with the pace of Adama Traore. Although it initially took some time for the Spaniard to get going, yet he scored a priceless goal in injury-time which gave all three points to Wolves.
So should Nuno Santo make Adama Traore a regular starter in his senior team? Let’s do a comparative analysis on how the Spanish prospect ranks up with his fellow teammates playing in the same position.
Adama Traore Vs Diogo Jota
Jota has struggled to get going in the Premier League following his outstanding contributions in the EFL Championship in the previous campaign. The Portuguese talent was able to score 18 goals and create six assists in 46 appearances for the West Midlands club across all competitions last term. However, he has just got a single assist against Everton to show for his efforts this season.
Comparatively, Traore registered five goals and grabbed 12 assists in 40 matches for Middlesbrough in the last campaign. Going by their recent record, it is evident that Jota is more of a goal-threat while Traore is a better facilitator.
Adama Traore Vs Helder Costa
The last season, Helder Costa had five goals and six assists to his name in 39 appearances for Wolves in all competitions. It is clear that Traore has him beaten as far as stats are concerned. However, Costa has played more in Nuno Santo’s first-team and has developed a good understanding with his teammates.
Adama Traore As A Substitute
Traore boasts excellent pace and can dribble with the ball to earn free-kicks or create chances for his teammates. He is ideally suited to come off the bench and change the course of a game as evidenced by his match-winning contributions against the Hammers on Saturday. No defender in the Premier League would want to face a fresh Traore coming off the bench and running behind them to cause havoc. Hence, maybe a substitute role is best suited for his talents as of this moment.
Conclusion
For now, Nuno Santo should keep the Spanish speedster on the bench and let him loose once the opposition team are getting tired in the second half. Traore is suited to being a perfect impact sub unless he starts scoring goals on a weekly basis.
