With a 12 point lead over Aston Villa in the second place, Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves are all but into the top flight next season. It will be a huge blow if they miss out on automatic promotion come the end of the season but the manager seems fairly confident and is already making plans for the next season.
The squad at Molineux has enough quality to compete with the best in England like they showed in the League Cup outing against Manchester City earlier in the season. But they will want to break into the top half of the top flight and will need some additions in the summer, to make it easier.
This has seen them linked with some exciting stars for a move before the start of the next season and one name now on their radar is Bournemouth man Dan Gosling.
According to reports from The Sun (print ed), Espirito Santo is convinced that Gosling is just what his side needs to compete at the highest level and it is understood that they are confident of getting a deal through at the end of the season.
A product of the academy at Plymouth Argyle, Gosling broke into the first team at Plymouth in 2006 but was given a way into the top flight by Merseyside outfit Everton. He failed to establish himself in the first team, before moving on to Newcastle United, finally joining Bournemouth in 2014.
Eddie Howe has used him on a regular basis in the Championship and in the Premier League and has used him for 89 league matches to date, where he has six goals to his name. He has three caps for the England U21 side but failed to make a single senior appearance for the Three Lions.
Known for his strength in the midfield and industry to keep the opponents on their toes, the 28-year old is not a creator chief but can play through balls, that create chances for his side regularly. But his biggest strength is his ability to make interceptions and tackles in the middle of the field, and act as a shield for his backline.
He has 13 starts this season, where he has picked up a goal and an assist and has been used as the second choice midfielder to good effect. However, he is not expected to break into the first team at Molineux either, and will only be an option from the bench next season.
The manager has used Romain Saiss, Ruben Neves and Alfred Ndiaye in the two midfield roles in a 3-4-3 system and Gosling can play in either of those roles, but is not really an upgrade on the options they have. He does add numbers to the midfield but do you think he is the right man for Wolves?
