The €25m dazzling talent Wolves could sign who's been compared to ex-Man City gem Riyad Mahrez

So far, Wolves’ summer transfer window hasn’t been about new signings, but about the players who have left. That seems set to change shortly – but will the incoming transfer of Celta Vigo’s Fer López help the club’s fans forget about Matheus Cunha and Rayan Aït-Nouri? And how much can we expect from the youngster in his first season?

López is expected to complete a €25m (£21.3m) move from Galicia to the Molineux in the coming days, with supporters of his Spanish club seemingly in uproar over the sale of a player seen as their brightest talent. For Wolves, however, the 21-year-old’s arrival may represent a chance to add a dash of magic to the attack.

What Wolves fans can expect from Fer López

López hadn’t even made his debut for Celta this time last year, but has now persuaded Wolves to part with a substantial sum after having made just 20 senior appearances between La Liga and the Copa del Rey – scoring four goals in the process.

A left-footed attacking midfielder who typically plays down the right-hand channels, López may be lacking in experience but makes up for it with immense technical quality. Blessed with quick feet and instinctive control, López is constantly looking for ways to beat defenders one-on-one, and has the inherent skill to pull it off.

He’s also a gifted playmaker with an impressively precise passing range, getting plenty of accurate balls into the box either from central areas or from out wide, and while he has yet to register an assist in senior football that seems to be a statistical fluke rather than a condemnation of his creative prowess – he’s been involved in creating four shooting chances per match in La Liga since breaking into Celta’s first team.

As with many young players blessed with the ability to beat a man with flicks, tricks and a burst of pace, López’s decision making could use some polishing and he can be guilty of trying to dribble when a pass would be the better option, arguably a particular shame because the quality of his through balls stands out so much when watching him. As a creator who can open up space in a number of different ways, however, he could well offer Wolves something they have largely lacked over the past couple of seasons.

Even after Gary O’Neil was replaced by Vitor Pereira midway through the season, they often had issues bridging the gap between their defensive midfielders and their front three, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde the only player regularly able to transition the ball effectively from deep areas to the final third. While his work in Vigo suggests that López is unlikely to track back too far, he could offer a creative and effective bridge between attack and defence.

Not that he doesn’t work hard off the ball, and he’s a willing presser who generates a healthy number of turnovers and plenty of pressure on opposing players – but his strength is undeniably in his ability to take up the ball in midfield and get it into the box with flair and threat. There’s a learning curve which has yet to be completed, be he could inject some urgency into an attack that may lack it, especially without Cunha.

Why Fer López has been compared to Riyadh Mahrez

It’s also possible that López could play a role on the right wing for Wolves, a position he is perfectly capable of playing – to the extent that a former youth coach even compared him to Riyadh Mahrez.

López spent some time in England as a teenager while he was at school in Suffolk (his language skills are said to be impeccable) and spent time training with local team Bacton United in 2018, often dazzling players much older than him.

“He was different gravy. Just a completely different level,” then-Bacton coach Ryan Owens told Sky Sports. “We had one player who he would just nutmeg again and again. He would love to wind him up… He reminds me of Riyad Mahrez. The ball just sticks to his feet.”

Another coach who spent time with him and helped him get a trial at Norwich City recalls López training by volleying balls into a basketball net. López was rejected at Carrow Road for being “too small”, a rather stereotypically English response to talent which seems somewhat foolish given that the midfielder is now 6’2” tall.

The same control and deft dribbling skill which stood out to López’s old coach at Bacton hasn’t faded, and he does have a hint of the Algerian winger’s ability to take defenders on – and maybe some of his confidence in front of goal, although his finishing could be slightly more precise.

López also doesn’t yet have Mahrez’s skill at ghosting into space inside the box, and his positional sense and off-ball movement is another area he will need to work on in order to reach the very top level. For all that there are minor caveats, however, López is blessed with all the natural talent required to succeed at the very top level and results so far have been very impressive.

It’s likely that López will initially play a rotational role at the Molineux rather than being an immediate week-in, week-out starter, but if he develops his reading of the game and his decision-making, it won’t be long before he makes his mark. Wolves have signed a sparkling attacking talent – now it’s up to Pereira and his coaching staff to nurture it.