Forget Moutinho: Lage can save Wolves millions with £270k-rated "unbelievable kid" - opinion

After over a year out through injury, Wolverhampton Wanderers attacking midfielder Meritan Shabani is set to return to training next month after a nightmare start to his Wolves tenure.

According to The Express, the West Midlands side are planning for the German to become a part of Bruno Lage’s plans in April after numerous setbacks.

The 22-year-old was signed in the summer of 2019 from German giants Bayern Munich having gone through the youth ranks in Bavaria, with the initial plan being that he would join the U23s group with a pathway to the first-team.

However, the midfielder’s rotten luck began when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in September 2019 in an EFL Cup game against Reading, ruling him out for the entire season.

Once Shabani had returned to fitness and played half a season with the U23s last term, the German joined Dutch side VVV-Venlo on loan for the remainder of the campaign, where he suffered a recurrence of his previous knee injury.

With Nelson Semedo Lage’s only other unavailable player prior to Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, it would take a serious wave of injuries for the midfielder to feature for the first-team before the end of the season. However, there is certainly an opportunity for the 22-year-old to still have a future at Molineux.

In terms of more offensive-minded midfielders, Wolves have just Joao Moutinho and youngster Luke Cundle in the first-team set up with the likes of Ruben Neves and Leander Dendoncker more defensive players.

Having made his first league start against Tottenham recently, Cundle is certainly one for the future. However, at 35 there are always questions surrounding Moutinho and how much longer he will be able to play and the current intensity and