Wolves' £16m flop is now outperforming Larsen & Ait-Nouri after leaving

The decision to get rid of Gary O’Neil from the Wolverhampton Wanderers hot seat continues to look like the correct decision, even if the Old Gold are still staring over their shoulder anxiously at the relegation places in the Premier League.

Under the former choppy managerial regime, Wolves were leaking goals for fun and losing clashes left, right and centre, with O’Neil tallying up a worrying 11 league defeats this season before his expected dismissal.

Now, under the more polished reign of Vitor Pereira, Wolves are two points clear of the bottom three, with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa sticking out as a key result near the foot of the division.

Pereira will hope he can one day be remembered in a similar vein to Nuno Espirito Santo, with the Portuguese manager hailed as a modern-day great at Molineux, before then embarking on a new adventure elsewhere at Nottingham Forest.

Nuno’s standout Wolves stars

Glancing at the stars Nuno had at his disposal in the West Midlands makes for some enjoyable reading, with the likes of Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota starring in attack under the now Forest boss’ methods, alongside the popular 51-year-old also possessing midfield superstars such as Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho.

Neves was undoubtedly one of the finest stars to ever don an Old Gold jersey under the Portuguese coach, with Neves going on to amass a weighty 253 appearances for the club as 30 goals and 13 assists came his way.

Delving deeper, the likes of Jota also really came into their own in the English game at Wolves before becoming a success at Anfield, with all 44 of his strikes at Molineux coming under the much-celebrated boss.

But, for all the many hits, there were a couple of notable misses, with this attacker – who joined during the same transfer window as Jimenez – going down as a complete disaster.

The Wolves flop now outperforming Larsen and Ait-Nouri

Before we look at how this flop has turned around their playing days after a bruising experience at Molineux, some scars have to be reopened.

Patrick Cutrone would join the Wolves ranks for a bumper £16m in the summer of 2019, with the club’s impressive track record in unearthing top-quality gems from abroad no doubt making the Old Gold faithful believe that this would be another successful and exciting buy.

Unfortunately, sweet strikes such as this one from the Italian versus West Ham United wouldn’t be regular, with only three goals and four assists coming the ex-AC Milan attacker’s way from 28 largely forgettable appearances.

In the end – after multiple loan stints away from the club saw him move out to Spain among other new locations – Cutrone would up and leave permanently for hometown side Como in 2022, bringing his cursed stay in England to a thankful halt.

The one-time senior Italy international would open up about his headspace during his dismal time with the Old Gold shortly after returning to his native country, stating that he felt “alone” throughout his bumpy stay.

The 6 foot attacker being back in familiar surroundings would soon see the Old Gold dud get back to the goalscoring best that resulted in Wolves once forking out £16m, with Cutrone’s encouraging output this campaign in Serie A actually bettering both Jorgen Larsen and Rayan Ait-Nouri’s own numbers back in Pereira’s camp.

Cutrone would slot straight into second place in the table above if he was still at Wolves, with the Como-born attacker picking up six goals and four assists this season in league action.

As a result, he betters Larsen by one goal contribution and his left-back teammate by two, as Cutrone attempts to just shrug off his poor spell in England with more and more standout showings in Italy.

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