Wolves have suffered a potential blow in their quest to sign Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car, with West Ham eyeing up a late January move for him.
The Lowdown: Wolves keen on Caleta-Car
Wanderers have been exceptional at the back this season, conceding just 16 times in 21 Premier League matches, with Max Kilman, Conor Coady and Romain Saiss excelling as a back-three.
However, there is still a need for defensive depth should any of that trio face a prolonged absence, and Caleta-Car has been linked with coming into the club during the January transfer window.
The 20-cap Croatia international has started 12 Ligue 1 matches for Marseille this season, enjoying a 92.1% pass completion rate. That is distinctly better than anyone in Bruno Lage's current squad, so he could greatly improve their ability to play out from the back.
The Latest: West Ham ready to swoop
It looks as though Wolves could now miss out on signing the 25-year-old, though, with The Athletic's David Ornstein claiming that West Ham want to sign Caleta-Car this month.
His current Marseille deal expires in the summer of 2023, so the French club only have two transfer windows left to receive a healthy fee for his services before they risk losing him for nothing.
The Verdict: Potential blow for Wolves
While Wolves don't have defensive problems of any kind at the moment, missing out on Caleta-Car could be a blow, especially if it makes a Premier League rival stronger. West Ham would also have the advantage of being able to offer him Europa League football in the spring, a competition from which Marseille were eliminated last month.
His aforementioned pass completion rate is highly impressive - Coady tops the pile for Wolves in that respect with 88% this season - and he also averaged 2.5 tackles and 3.5 clearances per game at Euro 2020 last summer, displaying his no-nonsense defensive prowess.
Wolves are running out of time to find an alternative target and it would be a risk not to sign anyone, with an injury to any of the first-choice centre-backs potentially leaving Lage short of options.
In other news, another Wolves target has also been linked with another Premier League team. Find out who it is here.