Wolves teen could be Ait-Nouri’s dream replacement under Vitor Pereira

Wolves edged their way deeper into the Premier League relegation zone, losing 2-1 to Ipswich at the Molineux, in their huge relegation six-pointer.

Ipswich took an early lead with a Matt Doherty own goal, before Matheus Cunha equalised in the 72nd minute, only for their hard work to be undone with yet another set-piece goal conceded, this one coming in the 94th minute to hand Ipswich all three points.

It all boiled over after the final whistle, with Rayan Ait-Nouri topping off a poor Wolves performance by being awarded a second yellow card after the whistle.

All of this culminated in Gary O’Neil’s dismissal, which a few Wolves players in particular may feel responsible for.

Ait-Nouri’s performance against Ipswich

Ait-Nouri is largely seen as one of Wolves’ most important players, and his performance before the Ipswich winner had shown why. The 23-year-old won eight of his ten ground duels, made four tackles in the game, completed his only dribble attempt and made one key pass.

However, after tempers flared at the full-time whistle, he will now serve a suspension for their next game, which will prove to be another hurdle for Wolves to manage as they now also have to hunt for a new manager in the time being.

With the Old Gold already missing defenders such as Yerson Mosquera through injury, their defence needs a rejig in order to solve this Ait-Nouri suspension issue.

Luckily for them, they signed an extremely talented young and dynamic defender this summer, who could finally be unleashed in the Premier League.

Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri replacement

Wolves signed 17-year-old Brazilian defender, Pedro Lima, for a fee of around £8.5m from Sport Recife in the summer transfer window, beating Chelsea to the signing who also held interest in the youngster.

Now 18-years-old, Lima has only made two appearances since joining the club, both in cup competitions, yet to make his Premier League debut.

But with Ait-Nouri now set to miss the Leicester City game through suspension, Wolves will have to rejig their back line, giving them the perfect opportunity to finally unleash their teenage sensation in the Premier League, adding that extra technical quality to the side.

The metrics this season show the creative impact Wolves full-backs have on the game, with both players contributing over one shot per 90, more than four shot-creating actions between them per 90, and both displaying good progressive numbers for their position, being involved in all phases for the side.

Lima would need to replicate this, being able to get forward and provide creativity in the attacking third, but also, working back and getting involved on the defensive end, something he has shown signs of already in his two appearances for Wolves this season in the EFL Cup.

With Ait-Nouri gathering a lot of interest from the top six clubs, such as Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, this would be a perfect opportunity to unleash Lima to see how he fares with the rest of his side. It would also give them a chance to see if Doherty on the left works effectively enough long term, should Ait-Nouri ever leave.

With the Molineux side working on a deal to hire Vitor Pereira, this must be something he trials out immediately should he walk through the door.