Wolves can finally wave farewell to Neves by signing 22 y/o "rare bright spark" - opinion

Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly eyeing a move for Barcelona’s 22-year-old midfielder, Riqui Puig.

That is according to Spanish outlet, Sport, who claims that super-agent Jorge Mendes is bringing Wolves’ Ruben Neves closer to Barcelona.

The report goes on to state that Mendes will also look after Wolves, having negotiated “interesting meeting points.”

Whilst Neves’ transfer fee could be lowered for the benefit of Barcelona, a swap deal may prosper in addition, with the likes of Ez Abde, Nico Gonzalez, Alex Balde, Riqui Puig and Oscar Mingueza all mentioned as players that Mendes believes “can come to fruition” and “who are very interest in the English club.”

With Barcelona advancing talks to sign Neves thanks to Mendes, as well as the report suggesting that the 25-year-old Portuguese midfielder would be “delighted to play for Barca” – it looks as though the Old Gold will bid farewell to their midfielder of five seasons at the end of this campaign.

And with Mendes’ proposed inclusion of players, one man stands out from the rest as an outright Neves replacement. That man is Puig, who has been dubbed a “rare bright spark” by Graham Ruthven.

A somewhat underrated option and evidently overlooked by Barcelona, having made just 14 appearances in La Liga this season finding himself in the starting XI just 5% of the time, Puig clearly needs a move that will guarantee him game time.

And with his ability in possession, averaging an emphatic 77.77 passes completed per 90, with an astonishing 92.5% pass completion, he actually outdoes Neves’ average of 55.09 at a completion rate of 83.2% and finds himself in the elite category in comparison to positionally similar players across Europe’s top five leagues.

Puig’s match average