Adama Traore has lower xG than Wolves centre-back Willy Boly this season

Off the back of a career best season in 2019/20, Adama Traore’s form has fallen off a cliff in 2020/21, to the point where centre-back Willy Boly has a higher xG number than the speedy winger following Saturday’s defeat to fierce local rivals West Brom.

Traore scored four goals and bagged nine assists in the Premier League season to establish himself as one of Wolves’ most important players. But the 24-year-old Spaniard has been a shadow of that player in recent months, and his team is worse off for it.

Boly scored and got an assist in the space of five minutes in the 3-2 loss to West Brom at Molineux. His individual xG, the statistic that measures the quality of chances and likelihood of goals to determine how well a team or player is performing in front of goal, is 0.77.

Traore’s xG number stands at 0.68.

Where only a few months ago he was one of Wolves’ chief sources of creativity and chances, the ex-Barcelona academy graduate hasn’t managed a goal or assist in the Premier League all season.

Traore’s future at Wolves has also become uncertain, which may have something to do with his form and his spell out of favour earlier in the campaign.

Talks over a new contract looked to be going well and Wolves believed they had reached an agreement in principle, with only minor details to be ironed out. But negotiations stalled and what had seemed like small issues became more significant problems.

Leeds are interested in the player and Traore has considered leaving Molineux. Wolves could ask for around £40m, which is more than double what they paid Middlesbrough for him in 2018, but far less than the £75m they valued him at last summer.

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