By the numbers: Should Wolves go for Willian Jose?

The Real Sociedad loanee will hope to get off the mark shortly after the international break in his bid to earn a permanent deal.

And here, we take a closer look at Jose’s contributions in gold and black thus far.

Shots

First things first, it’s worth making clear that the 29-year-old is not alone in his struggle for goals.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been goal-shy all season, netting just 28 times in 29 Premier League matches.

But – as the simple saying goes – if you don’t shoot, you won’t score, and Jose ranks pretty low when it comes to attempts.

Again, Wolves’ lack of creativity in the final third certainly plays its part, but he has only had 10 shots in nine games.

That translates to 1.1 shots per match and to put it into more context, the injured Raul Jimenez’s shots per game number is 2.6.

At Wolves, Pedro Neto (1.9), Ruben Neves (1.9), Daniel Podence (1.4) and Fabio Silva (1.2) are also above him.

Jose, meanwhile, is 109th in the top flight.

Interestingly, his shots per game during the first half of the season for Sociedad in La Liga was also 1.1 (while his career high came with them in 2017/18, with 2.6).

Room for improvement there, for sure.

Headers

Brought in to be a target man and more of an obvious focal point given the inexperience of Silva, Jose has been a better aerial presence.

Winning 2.3 headed duels every match, that puts him third in the Wolves pile, only behind Willy Boly (2.9) and Leander Dendoncker (2.8).

It also puts him considerably above fellow centre forwards Jimenez (1.5) and Silva (exactly one).

He has lost 2.4 battles per game as well but for a lone striker, overall, Jose has pulled his weight on that aspect.

Passes

Jose’s contribution in terms of linking up play has been pretty respectable as well.

He was often seen dropping deep to get on the ball before feeding it off to someone else against Liverpool last time out, and he makes 15 accurate short passes per game.

That is a much better average than Silva (six), too.

More notably, with key passes – passes that lead to a shot at goal – Jose has made seven in his nine Wolves appearances.

And while that does not sound like a great deal, Jimenez made five in 10 matches before his head injury back in November. Silva, meanwhile, has made six in 23 appearances.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Jose – in terms of hold-up play – is doing exactly what he was brought in to do.

But all strikers are judged by their goals, and he hasn’t solved Wolves’ attacking woes.

A lot of the time, he just hasn’t look liked scoring either.

He has got to find a way of getting more shots off, and fast.

A bumper permanent deal being pursued in the summer by Wolves, at this rate, seems unlikely.