Premier League 2019/20: Wolverhampton Wanderers' ideal forward line for the upcoming campaign
Wolverhampton Wanderers will embark on their Premier League campaign after having finished last season just below the top six. The Wolves' impressive seventh-placed finish also ensured their maiden European appearance since 1980.
Nuno Espirito Santo constructed a well-drilled side that played fierce counter-attacking football, pressed in the middle thirds of the pitch and defended with vigor. Wolves ultimately, were a side that possessed a three-man back line surrounded by two explosive wing backs. In front, the reliable duo of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves took charge.
However, to facilitate Nuno's ideas, Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez had to build a partnership, always look for each other and be more physically daunting. Fair to say, they shared the goal-scoring burden and executed the manager's tactics extremely well.
Last campaign, Jimenez established himself as one of the best forwards in the Premier League, accumulating 13 goals and seven assists. The Mexico international's wonderful debut season in England tempted Wolves into making his deal permanent, which eventually did take place after they coughed up £30 million.
The Wanderers attack attained a menacing look after Diogo Jota found his goal-scoring boots. Now, in order to embellish the strike force, Wolves also completed a move for Patrick Cutrone from AC Milan for a reported fee of €18m.
Having secured the services of the sharpshooter, we don't expect the management to tinker much with the 3-4-1-2 (3-5-2) formation that has yielded success so far.
On that note, we look at Wolves' ideal forward line for next season.
CAM: Diogo Jota
Diogo Jota had a slow start in his debut Premier League campaign after a successful stint in the Championship. In the 2017-18 season, the Portuguese attacker scored 17 goals and registered five assists.
Jota played in a wide role during the early stages of the previous campaign, often starting from left wing. But, Nuno drifted Jota inside as an auxiliary striker besides Raul Jimenez and since then, he developed a flourishing partnership with Jimenez. Last season, the 22-year-old ended up with nine goals and five assists in the league.
However, with the appointment of Cutrone, we can expect him to play a free role behind the strikers, where in he'd be allowed to drop deep and pick up the ball, run across the channels and use the strikers' hold-up play to overlap into the box.