The dream free agent signing who would see Wolves avoid relegation battle next season

There are gaps to be plugged, that much is clear. A fortnight ago, a misty-eyed Ruben Neves sat on a function chair in the middle of Molineux and bid a heartfelt farewell to Wolves after six years at the club. Yesterday Nathan Collins became the most expensive Irishman in footballing history when he joined Brentford. Elsewhere, there are whispers that Max Kilman could be a £35 million target for Napoli. Julen Lopetegui’s pack is in danger of crumbling before our very eyes.

This summer was always going to be a pivotal one for Wanderers. After a campaign in which they flirted with relegation and eventually settled for the relative comfort of mediocrity, a positive, proactive transfer window would have been greatly appreciated. Instead, they have already sold two of their best players, and thus far, the only new addition who wasn’t at the club last season is third choice goalkeeper Tom King. There is still plenty of time for the recruitment team to turn this one around, but nerves must be jangling, even just a little.

And so, where should this Wolves squad, bereft of midfield orchestration and defensive assuredness, look to reinforce first? Why, up front, of course! Think of it as the Pimp My Ride approach; your R-plate Citroen Saxo won’t start on anything over a five degree incline and the driver’s side door doesn’t open, so let’s whack a Playstation 2 in the boot and a fish tank in the glovebox.

Then again, Wanderers’ need for goals far outstrips man’s innate desire to be able to look at koi carp on the A4150 ring road. Nobody in the Premier League scored fewer times than Wanderers last season, and between them, Hwang Hee-chan, Raul Jimenez, and Diego Costa struck on just eight occasions across all competitions. Prolific, they were not.

A striker is, therefore, desperately needed, and while Saša Kalajdžić will be returning from injury at some unspecified point in the future, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lopetegui push for another new addition to aid the towering Austrian.

One name that has been mentioned with an intriguing frequency is that of former Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz. The 29-year-old is currently a free agent after leaving the La Liga giants earlier in the summer, and it has been widely reported that Wolves are keeping half an eye on his situation as it unfurls.

In truth, the forward didn’t always shine to his fullest in the Spanish capital. Just 12 goals in 84 outings is hardly the return of a predator, or if it is, it’s the kind of predator who was forced to feed off the scraps from whatever Karim Benzema couldn’t quite stomach. There is a reason why Real were willing to let him walk out the door for nothing, after all.

But Diaz is by no means a spent force. This is a player who exudes pedigree - who made his name in the famed Castilla set-up, who ripped up Ligue 1 during a brief stint with Lyon, and who did enough to not only convince Real that he was worthy of a homecoming, but also that he should be handed the fabled number seven shirt vacated by Cristiano Ronaldo. Things might not have worked out quite as he would have wanted in Madrid, but even during his relatively underwhelming run with Los Blancos, he won two Champions Leagues and enough domestic titles to sink an armada. By most normal metrics, that would be considered a resounding success.

What Diaz needs, then, is a place to rekindle his best form; an opportunity to step out from the shadow of his Real past and into a more sunlit, modest future in which he can prove his worth as an individual. Without a doubt, Wolves could provide him with that. Not only are they wanting for a striker who can elevate their feeble attack, but they also have a propensity for luring gliterring Iberian talents to the Premier League and easing them into the English game with minimal fuss.

As an added boon, Lopetegui is known to be an admirer of Diaz. The attacker has never been capped for Spain, but it was back in the December of 2017, when the current Wolves boss was head honcho of the national team, that he came the closest to a coveted call-up. All of the pieces, it would seem, fall into place quite conveniently.

Or rather, all except one. Earlier in the week, Mundo Deportivo reported that Diaz is hoping to secure a similar wage at his next club to the one that he has just left behind in Madrid. In other words, he will demand around £3 million a year. As yet, none of his purported suitors - Wolves presumably among them - have been willing to acquiesce to those figures. So begins the grotesque dance of agent and club.

If, however, Diaz is willing to reconsider his own valuation of himself, and if a compromise can be found, this feels like the sort of deal that could not only benefit both parties in the short term, but also provide Wolves with extra attacking oomph they need to avoid another relegation scare next season.