Wolverhampton Wanderers have officially confirmed their place as a Premier League club for the 2023/24 campaign after avoiding relegation to the Championship.
Julen Lopetegui's side are nine points clear of the drop zone with two matches left to play and can now concentrate on building a squad ready to compete higher up the table next season.
One player who could be on his way to join the pack is Lens central defender Kevin Danso, who is a reported transfer target for Wolves heading into the transfer window.
Earlier this month, 90min reported that the club were on one of a number of Premier League teams who scouted the Austrian gem this season, with a view to a possible swoop in the summer.
Who is Kevin Danso?
The 24-year-old is an excellent centre-back who currently plays for Lens in Ligue 1 and a player who could come in as Lopetegui's own version of Manchester City star Ruben Dias.
Since arriving in England, the Portuguese monster has won the Premier League title twice, potentially soon to be a third time this month, and picked up the Player of the Year award in the top flight in 2021.
The ex-Benfica man is a strong defender who is also able to use his ability and composure on the ball to start attacks for Pep Guardiola's side and Danso could fulfil a similar role for Wolves.
In Ligue 1 this season, the "rapid" – as he was once described by journalist Josh Bunting – Austrian has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.00 and won 64% of his individual duels, which shows that he is able to deliver quality performances on a regular basis whilst also dominating opposition players in physical battles.
Dias, meanwhile, has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.98 or higher in all three of his Premier League seasons to date and has won 58% of his duels in the division this term.
These statistics show that both defenders are able to perform to a similar level week-in-week-out whilst winning the majority of their clashes with opposition attackers in their respective leagues.
Both players also rank in the top 21% of players in their position in Europe's top five leagues over the last 365 days for progressive passes per 90 and pass completion success rate respectively.
This shows that they are reliable passers who can also break lines and progress the ball up the pitch by aiming to find midfielders and forwards in good positions, rather than being safe and leaving it to the others to take risks.
FBref lists Dias as one of the most similar players to Danso, based on their respective statistics over the last 365 days, and Lopetegui could now land his own version of the Portuguese star by swooping for the 6 foot 3 Lens "colossus" – as he was dubbed by Timo Werner – this summer.
