'Ridiculous' Stat Shows What £18m Star Adama Traore Is Expected to Bring to New Club Wolves

Wolves are expected to complete the club record £18m signing of Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore before Thursday's transfer deadline after meeting a release clause in the former Barcelona starlet's Teesside contract.

22-year-old is set to undergo a medical on Tuesday and his arrival will surpass the £16m that Wolves laid out to prise Ruben Neves away from Porto this time last year.

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Schooled for a decade in the same academy that produced Lionel Messi, Traore has tremendous technical ability and a very direct style of play.

The Spain Under-21 player is a dribbler and Opta can reveal he successfully dribbled the ball past opponents on 267 occasions in the Championship last season.

Bearing in mind that he only featured in 34 games, excluding Boro's two-legged playoff semi-final against former club Aston Villa, and was 132 ahead of the next most prolific dribbler in the division, it is an even more remarkable stat.

After an indifferent beginning to last season when he in was in and out of the team, Traore grew into the campaign. He failed to start only one Championship game after the turn of the calendar year, while all five of his goals and eight of his 10 assists came in the second half of the season.

He was undoubtedly crucial to Middlesbrough finishing in the top six and is now that he is older and more experienced is much better placed for another crack at the Premier League.

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The only worry for Wolves is that Traore is arriving injured after suffering a dislocated shoulder in pre-season and may take a little while to hit his stride depending on his recovery.