Why Wolves are making the right choice in signing Jonny Castro permanently
Few critics expected Wolves to do well in the Premier League, but even fewer expected them to win points against Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. They’ve been the dark-horses of the Premier League season and given the strength of their current side, it’s really no surprise.
They’ve also been defensively solid so far in their Premier League season, conceding just 31 goals and a lot of that has been down to organisation and a consistent team-sheet.
For Nuno Espirito Santo, his Wolverhampton Wanderers team did not even change for the first few months as his side readjusted to the Premier League. However, a lot of that was possible because of the performances of his back-three and the two full-backs.
That’s exactly why the Telegraph has revealed that the Premier League side are close to agreeing on a permanent deal for on-loan Atletico Madrid star Jonny Castro Otto.
The 24-year-old has been a key figure in Nuno’s team-sheet, playing in all but four Premier League games which he missed due to a minor knee injury. But despite that, the Spaniard has come leaps and bounds since his time in Madrid and even earned a spot in the Spanish national side during the recent international break.
However, it’s his ability to keep going forward and then return to do his part defensively that make him a good wing-back, and it allows him to fit into Nuno Espirito Santo’s formation. That combined with Castro’s athleticism, composure and defensive solidity makes him a great addition to have at a joint club-record fee of £18million.
This does mean that there is more competition at the Molineux Stadium, but Jonny Castro has comfortably outperformed every other left-back option. So far this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 2.5 tackles, 1.9 interceptions, 2.1 clearances and just 0.8 fouls per game according to Whoscored. Ruben Vinagre has only managed 1.1 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, 1 clearance and 0.9 fouls per game, which clearly shows who comes out on top.
Read More: Wolves signing this on-loan Juventus starlet would be quite a brilliant move by Nuno Espirito Santo
However, buying the 24-year-old permanently could put a stop to any other moves that Nuno Espirito Santo and Wolves may want to make before the January window shuts. Given that they’re targeting a Europa League spot, they would need at least one more signing.
The 7th-placed side needs another forward, someone to help out Raul Jimenez, with the club having scored the least amount of goals amongst the top nine Premier League sides.