It’s been a busy few days at Wolves as they prepare to announce a new manager at the helm.
Wolves sacked Gary O’Neil on Sunday and quickly identified Al Shabab boss Vitor Pereira as his replacement at Molineux.
Pereira, who has met several Premier League managers, including Pep Guardiola and Nuno Espirito Santo, is close to completing his move to the relegation battlers.
Pereira will sign an 18-month contract at Wolves, keeping him in Wolverhampton till 2026, with the Portuguese handed the huge challenge of keeping the Old Gold in the top flight.
The new Wolves manager will join with the assurances of being able to sign his necessary transfer targets, and there is one who Rio Ferdinand has praised previously.
Ben Godfrey of Atalanta looks on during a training session ahead of the UEFA Super Cup 2024 at National Stadium on August 13, 2024 in Warsaw, Poland.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Rio Ferdinand hails Wolves target Ben Godfrey
A huge reason why Wolves sacked O’Neil was because of their incredibly leaky defence, conceding the most goals of any side in the Premier League (40).
With only Craig Dawson, Toti Gomes and Santi Bueno as senior options, the Old Gold have been exposed for their lack of pace and mobility at the back.
In January, Wolves are looking to add a defender to their ranks, perhaps someone who has the speed and agility required alongside the experienced Dawson.
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As a result, Wolves have been linked with Ben Godfrey, who joined Atalanta for £10 million in the summer and Ferdinand has waxed lyrical over previously.
Speaking in 2020 when Godfrey was at Everton, the former Man United stalwart praised the 26-year-old for his incredible pace and ability to deal with explosive attackers.
“You’ve got two centre-backs playing at full-backs. Ben Godfrey has been absolutely outstanding. The pace he has shown in the last couple of games…were against Timo Werner, Chelsea, the last game against Arsenal,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.
“You look at the pace of the kid. Pepe, £72m worth, I am sure Mr Godfrey would be looking at his pocket and thinking ‘where is he? Someone causing me a bit of friction in my pocket.”
Godfrey’s impressive statistics
Godfrey is a clear upgrade on Bueno and he would slot nicely into a back three alongside Dawson and Toti.
The talented defender also boasts the required Premier League experience, having played over 100 times for Everton and Norwich City in England’s top flight.
Godfrey’s electric recovery pace and agility to marshall dangerous attackers are two attributes he brings to the table, along with his no-nonsense approach to clearing the ball away from danger and winning aerial battles, as highlighted by his FBref statistics.
Ben Godfrey per 90 statistics Percentile rank vs defenders across Europe
0.14 non-penalty xG Top 4%
2.44 tackles Top 22%
1.18 interceptions Top 26%
4.54 clearances Top 1%
2.02 aerials won Top 3%
The above table shows Godfrey ranks in the top 5% of defenders across Europe across various metrics, including clearances, aerials won and non-penalty xG, evincing his threat in both boxes.
So, with all that said, the former Everton titan would be a great signing for Wolves to make and one that could inspire a survival push.