Wolves’ Premier League campaign got off to a rough start after they were defeated 4-0 by Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Despite the scoreline, Wolves boss Vitor Pereira had admiration for the way his side played, saying: “We played with bravery, tried to score goals, and we had our chances to score. In the end, each time we committed a mistake they punished us with a goal.”
Wolves only had one shot on target, fewer than City, but a poor day in the office for goalkeeper Jose Sa saw him underperform his xG faced by -1.73 meaning he conceded chances that he should have saved. Sa’s performance was compounded by a defensive error from Emmanuel Agbadou that saw his misplaced pass reach City’s Oscar Bobb, who proceeded to assist Tijani Reijnders.
Agbadou’s place in the starting 11 may now be under threat as Wolves close in on a deal for a new centre-back.
Wolves' interest in Arsenal's Kiwior
Caught Offside have revealed that Wolves are one of the sides “showing interest” in signing Arsenal’s Polish defender, Jakub Kiwior.
The centre-back received a long run in the team in the back half of last season when Gabriel was injured, and during this time, his performances were labeled as “impressive” by analyst Ben Mattinson, possibly where his increased interest started.
The player isn’t one that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants to sell, but after already being behind William Saliba and Gabriel in the first-team pecking order and with new arrival Cristhian Mosquera also likely to start ahead of him, Kiwior is open to a move somewhere he can receive more game time.
If Wolves want to sign Kiwior, then they will face significant Premier League opposition, as both Crystal Palace and Everton are rumored to be interested. They’ll face additional competition on the continent with Serie A sides Juventus and AC Milan, as well as Portugal’s Porto.
Kiwior won’t come cheap and is valued at more than £30 million, which would make him the most expensive defender in the club’s history, ahead of Nathan Collins and Nélson Semedo.
Wolves' formation suits Kiwior's play style
While Kiwior impressed in the back half of last season, there is a reason he’s not a regular starter for Arsenal, and that is his defensive success rate.
24/25 Premier League Stats
Success Rate
Percentile of CBs
Tackles Won
36.4%
9.3%
Duels Won
56.3%
39.2%
Aerial Duels Won
45.8%
11.3%
These stats are pretty damning for a defender. 90% of Premier League centre-backs won a higher percentage of their attempted tackles last season, and even his best defensive attribute, which is his duels, puts 60% of centre-backs ahead of him.
However, what Kiwior lacks in defensive attributes, he makes up for in his passing ability. Last season, the Polish international registered a 91.9% pass success rate, which put him in the top 15% of players. Additionally, his long ball success rate was equally impressive, with his long balls reaching their target more than half the time, which once again put him in the top 15% of players.
Reliable passing is where Wolves went wrong for the second goal they conceded against City, and having someone with Kiwior’s distribution in that back line will make mistakes like that less frequent.
Pereira’s defensive set-up will also cover for some of Kiwior’s shortcomings as the Wolves boss likes to play three centre-backs compared to Arteta, who plays two. This means that Kiwior will always have two players with him (as well as the wing-backs tucking in and midfielders dropping back) to help pick up his defensive load, allowing him to be the main distributor forward in the back three.
Based on this, when Kiwior ways up his transfer options, he may prioritise Wolves as it’s not only somewhere where he can play but where the system suits him.
