Vitor Pereira has just hinted at another forward following Matheus Cunha out the door at Wolves
All the talk heading into the summer transfer window is surrounding Matheus Cunha’s potential exit from Wolves, but another forward could follow him out the door.
Cunha is certain to depart Wolves in the summer transfer window. After hitting double figures in back-to-back campaigns, including 17 so far this term, the Brazilian feels he has earned the right to play for a bigger club.
The 25-year-old is being hunted by several teams willing to trigger his £62.5 million release clause, though it’s Manchester United who are leading the race for Cunha.
His current preference is to move to Old Trafford, regardless of whether the Red Devils win the Europa League final against Tottenham and book their place in the Champions League.
Cunha has also confirmed he wants to leave Wolves before the end of the season, and judging by Vitor Pereira’s latest comments, he isn’t the only one poised to exit Molineux.
Hwang Hee-chan heading for the exit door at Wolves
While Cunha’s stock and value has risen across the season, his teammate Hwang Hee-chan has witnessed his drop.
After posting 12 Premier League goals in the 2023/24 campaign, joint with Cunha, the South Korean has only scored twice in 20 matches this term.
Hwang was even left on the bench against Leicester City in April, despite Pereira using six substitutions, and that was a damning indictment of where his future lies.
With Jorgen Strand Larsen flying in the striker role, and the Portuguese preferring two number 10s behind him, the 29-year-old doesn’t fit into the manager’s system.
Speaking about the out-of-form forward to the E&S, Pereira explained his lack of minutes: “Larsen is scoring and he’s (Hwang) a striker.
“Of course, he can play as a forward but he’s not a player to play in between the lines, he likes to play on the limit, which means in our system he’s a striker and Larsen is scoring.
“It’s not about the quality of Hee-chan, because he has a lot of quality and he has different than Larsen. For a striker, if you don’t play or have a lot of minutes, to get the confidence is not easy.
“He also got some small injuries where he’s training but not 100 per cent. Larsen is scoring, so we’ll see (if Hwang gets more minutes), but he’s a very good player.”
Wolves will regret not selling Hwang for £21 million
Following a terrific campaign in front of goal last term and joining a rare club of Wolves strikers to hit double figures for Premier League goals, Hwang was expected to kick on.
That was demonstrated during the 2024 summer transfer when Wolves rejected a £21 million bid for Hwang from Marseille, with Gary O’Neil seeing him as a vital part of his plans.
It was a decision that was celebrated at the time, as holding onto Hwang felt like a success, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and now they’re perhaps regretting not cashing in on the striker.
Wolves paid £14 million for the South Korean international from RB Leipzig in 2022 and would have profited by some margin last year.
Now, they’d be lucky to recoup what they paid for him, which explains how much of a disastrous campaign it has been for Hwang.
