Julen Lopetegui has been a breath of fresh air at Wolves since taking over following the World Cup break, with the Spaniard taking the Old Gold from the bottom of the Premier League table to 13th.
While the Molineux outfit have still struggled in front of goal, they have picked up vital wins against West Ham, Everton, Liverpool and Spurs to take them clear of the relegation places.
However, the former Sevilla boss may face criticism for his signing of Matheus Cunha, as the £44m addition has done little to turn Wolves’ attacking woes around.
How has Cunha performed at Wolves?
It was clear in the build-up to the January transfer window that Wolves were desperate for a striker. Raul Jimenez and Diego Costa had failed to find the back of the net once in the top flight, while summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic was still sidelined through his ACL injury.
Lopetegui moved quickly to bring in Cunha on loan from Atletico Madrid, with that loan becoming permanent after specific terms were met just three games into his time at Molineux.
This means that the Old Gold will pay €50m (£44m) to sign the 23-year-old, a deal which looks extremely overpriced given his start to life in the Premier League.
The Brazilian striker, who earns £60k-per-week at Wolves, had failed to score in any of his 17 appearances for Atletico Madrid in the first half of the campaign and he has sadly continued that trend in the Midlands, with just one assist and no goals in his first 11 outings for the Old Gold.
The €50m fee also looks like a poor deal when you consider that Transfermarkt values the former RB Leipzig man at just €20m (£18m), which is no surprise given his lack of goal involvement since his spell at Hertha Berlin, where he managed an impressive 13 goals and ten assists in 40 appearances.
Cunha was once dubbed “extraordinary” by Italian football manager Paolo Tramezzani but he has done little to justify his eye-watering price thus far, as he has been unable to break the club’s striker curse in the Premier League, with it now close to a year since a Wolves striker scored in the top flight.
Therefore, unless he can seriously turn his form around at Molineux, Cunha’s signing must go down as the first big mistake of Lopetegui’s Wolves tenure.