Why Hwang Hee-chan and Pablo Sarabia will be worried if Wolves seal ‘outstanding’ transfer

Three players who could struggle if Wolves sign Wilfried Zaha

Wolves are working hard to find a replacement for Pedro Neto before deadline day, with one target identified.

Gary O’Neil faces an uphill task to find a suitable successor to Neto who joined Chelsea in a deal worth £54m.

While Wolves generated a significant profit on the Portugal international’s sale, it’s understood that O’Neil will be on a budget for the remainder of the window.

This makes the manager’s job even more difficult however, a cost-effective target has emerged as being of interest to those at Molineux.

Wolves are interested in Wilfried Zaha, who is set to leave Galatasaray just one year after signing for the Turkish champions.

It’s understood that the Lions want a fee in the region of £9m for the winger, who could make an unexpected return to the Premier League this summer.

While Zaha’s experience in the English top flight could come of use to O’Neil, not everyone at Wolves would be happy with the transfer.

Three players who could struggle if Wolves sign Wilfried Zaha

Chiquinho

One player who would be less excited about Zaha’s possible arrival is Chiquinho, who was the subject of a host of interest earlier this summer.

The winger returned from a successful loan spell at Famalicao last season, where he contributed to nine goals in Liga Portugal to impress many.

Now, the 24-year-old will be eager to make a positive step in his career at Wolves this season, something that could wobble if Zaha was to add competition to the squad.

Lauded as ‘outstanding’ by Ally McCoist during Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of Crystal Palace v Wolves in 2022, a player of the Ivorian’s calibre and reputation in the Premier League is unlikely to fall below the returning loanee, making the fight for game time even harder.

Hwang Hee-chan

A similar narrative could apply to Hwang Hee-chan, despite the Korean being further up the pecking order to Chiquinho.

Now that Jorgen Strand Larsen has been signed, Hwang’s claim to O’Neil’s favoured XI has taken a turn, with the forward’s start against Arsenal coming as a result of Matheus Cunha’s fitness.

The Brazilian started on the bench at the Emirates but is expected to be restored soon, leaving Hwang as either an option to start on the right or, drop to the bench.

Signing Zaha would add to the competition for minutes in the squad which is valuable to raise performance level and maintain depth, but could be detrimental to Hwang, who is a player fuelled by confidence

Pablo Sarabia

Arguably the player who could suffer most from Zaha’s arrival is Pablo Sarabia.

The 32-year-old had to fight hard for his spot in the starting line-up last season, only getting a chance to impress as a result of injuries.

After a dreary end to the 2023/24 campaign, Sarabia’s luck ran out with O’Neil, who dropped the Spaniard to the bench for the opener against Arsenal.

The veteran was handed a six minute cameo in the dying embers, hinting at how his season could look at Wolves with increased competition.

If Zaha was to arrive at Molineux, the Spain international’s chances would be all but eliminated, with several players thought to be ahead of him in the pecking order.