Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, look away. It seems leaving Molineux can have quite the transformative effect. Just look at Emmanuel Agbadou.
Hurriyet cover him today and how he’s quickly established himself as the ‘leader’ of Beşiktaş defender. In fact, manager Sergen Yalçın is even calling him that.
Agbadou joined the Turkish side in the January transfer window following a protracted exit from Molineux.
Wolves exit difficulties
Sport Witness covered the saga extensively from December onwards, reporting on agent meetings, flights to Istanbul, and everything in between before the clubs sealed the deal on deadline day.
Vitor Pereira even got involved, endorsing the defender at the request of the Turkish press. The defender was actually the first signing of the Portuguese manager’s reign at Wolves and a mainstay under him last season.
Fans considered him as something of a revelation upon his arrival, helping Pereira’s struggling defence last year.
The stats backed that up too, with some showing he had not lost a single 50/50 due and was in the top 10% for progressive passes among centre-backs. This season, though, that form nosedived.
By September, some reports had his performances as ‘disastrous’ citing inexcusable mistakes in key games. That ultimately led to his sale to Türkiye, where it appears the cycle has started again.
Besiktas positivity
According to Hurriyet, Agbadou has made a very positive impression early on at his new club. This led to a conversation with Yalçın after the defender managed an 82% pass accuracy and 10/13 duels won in the games against Alanya an Başakşehir.
“This season, the positions we had problems in were primarily defense,” the Besiktas manager reportedly told him.
“You largely eliminated this problem with your performance in the Alanyaspor and Baden-Şakşehir matches. You were very successful in duels, timing, and pass accuracy. From now on, you are the leader of our defense. I want you to lead the team in game setup.”
That’s quite the transformation for the 28-year-old, given how things ended in England. Wolves fans, though, might just want to wait before they get too disappointed. Afterall, they’ve seen such performances before themselves.