It’s safe to say that Wolves fans expected a lot more from Jhon Arias following his summer move from Fluminense.
Wolves had sold Matheus Cunha on day one of the transfer window opening, and then faced the unenviable task of replacing the Brazilian.
In the end, Jhon Arias was seen as that man.
Arias assumed the number 10 shirt that Cunha vacated, and fans were very excited to see what he could do, given how he’d been such a consistent performer for years over in Brazil with Fluminense.
Unfortunately though, Arias just hasn’t hit the ground running.
He’s had plenty of game time so far, but the Colombia international just hasn’t really been very impactful in terms of his attacking output, and has not yet registered a goal or an assist.
But there is reason to smile tonight for Arias, who has actually just been named among the nominees for a category at the FIFA Best awards.
Jhon Arias shortlisted for Best Men’s Midfielder of the Year
Jhon Arias in Wolves training.
Photo by Brett Patzke – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
It hasn’t happened yet for Arias in a Wolves shirt.
But those who have already written Arias off have tonight been reminded of how good a player he actually is.
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Because he has made it onto the shortlist of players on the Best Men’s Midfielder of the Year category at the FIFA Best awards.
And he is certainly in good company, with the following players nominated:
Jhon Arias
Jude Bellingham
Moises Caicedo
Frenkie de Jong
Bruno Fernandes
Enzo Fernandez
Ryan Gravenberch
Joshua Kimmich
Alexis Mac Allister
Scott McTominay
Jamal Musiala
Ruben Neves
Joao Neves
Michael Olise
Cole Palmer
Pedri
Declan Rice
Fabian Ruiz
Bernardo Silva
Fede Valverde
Florian Wirtz
Vitinha
Arias, obviously, has made it onto the list for his contributions for Fluminense. For the Brazilian outfit he scored four goals and supplied 13 assists in 35 appearances.
And he helped Fluminense reach the semi-final of the inaugural Club World Cup, where they came up short against eventual winners Chelsea.
Wolves’ new manager must get the best out of Arias
If anything this is just a reminder of the calibre of player Wolves have bought.
Yes, he has really underwhelmed so far. But it can be argued that he’s come in having played a lot of football already this year and has had to adapt to a new country and culture.
Jhon Arias for Fluminense
Appearances – 230
Trophies won – 4
Goals – 47
Assists – 55
Pereira played him in multiple different positions and did not get the best out of him, which has frustrated supporters.
Defensively he’s been quite good, but Wolves surely did not purchase him for that to be his game. We need to see output, and the new Wolves manager – who we expect to be Rob Edwards – must get the most out of Arias.