Why Wolves should return for Paulinho in January
According to an older report from Daily Mail, Wolves were interested in bringing Paulinho from Braga to add to their attacking options. Now the Braga boss has tipped the forward to make a move to England next summer after being impressed with the player’s performances (source – Birmingham Live).
Profile
Paulinho is a 27-year-old Portuguese forward who plays for SC Braga. He started his youth career at Santa Maria in 2001. After 9 years in the youth setup, he broke into the first-team.
In 2012, he moved to Trofense and had a decent spell there, making 38 appearances and scoring 11 goals. A year later, he joined Gil Vicente, where he enjoyed a decent spell.
It was only after he moved to SC Braga that his full potential was on display. In 139 games so far for the Portuguese outfit, he has scored 56 goals and 22 assists (h/t Transfermarkt). He recently made his debut for the Portugal senior team and scored 2 goals against Andorra.
Paulinho would be good cover for Raul Jimenez
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo was very keen on adding to their attack after Raul Jimenez played a staggering 65 games in the 2019-20 campaign. It saw him looking burned out at the latter stages of the season.
With Diogo Jota also leaving for Liverpool, it reduced their forward options even further. While the club did add Fabio Silva to their ranks, he is too young to be shouldering the responsibility.
The club needs another experienced striker and Paulinho should be the option they revisit. The Braga man has been in scintillating form over the last couple of seasons. Paulinho does fit the bill of a player who can play sporadically and come off the bench to chip in with a goal.
He enjoyed a prolific 2019/20 campaign with Braga, scoring 25 goals in 48 matches and would further bolster the club’s attack.
He is a very experienced player in the Liga NOS and being Portuguese himself, it would be a no-brainer for Wolves to go for him. The club have built a reputation of signing Portuguese players over the last couple of seasons.
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With another long and hectic season on the cards, Wolves would be wise to pursue a deal for Paulinho so as to avoid more pressure on Jimenez, who has been single-handedly carrying the goal scoring responsibilities.
