da heads bet： In recent terms, Wolves have endured something of a midfield exodus.
da fezbet： Ruben Neves was picked off by Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal for £47m in June 2023. Just the season prior, young star Morgan Gibbs-White was bought by Nottingham Forest for a club record £25m plus add-ons. Even the steadily consistent Belgium international Leander Dendoncker moved on, as Aston Villa signed him for £13m, in 2022 too.
The current lineup do have the likes of Pablo Sarabia, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Tommy Doyle (on loan from Manchester City) in the midfield ranks. However, with the club semi-stagnant in 14th and four points above the drop zone, it's safe to say that some fresh inspiration would be more than welcome.
Unfortunately, the topic of today's article currently finds himself a league below on loan. That said, admirers have tipped Luke Cundle to be Wolves' next exciting midfield talent.
Who is Luke Cundle?
Cundle has been at Wolves since he made the academy switch from Burnley back in 2020.
Building off his formative Lancashire football education, Cundle progressed through the Old Gold ranks and found his first team showings arrive in the EFL Cup. The now-21-year-old achieved his full Premier League debut in February 2022's 2-0 away win against Tottenham and through these drips of first-team action – loans to Swansea and now Plymouth have helped accelerate his development hugely.
At Swansea City, Cundle got a first full senior season under his belt in 2022/23 – grabbing three goals and four assists in 32 games as he continued to hone his skills. He said at the end of his loan with the Championship club:
“I’ve enjoyed my time here and I’m looking forward to what next season brings for me. I’ve adapted well to the league but (physicality is) something I can still improve on, so I’ll be working more on that in the summer. I’ll go back to Wolves, I don’t know what the plans are yet, but I’ll enjoy my break in the summer and see what happens next season. I have really enjoyed my time in Swansea, and I have learned so much."
Now at newly promoted Championship side Plymouth Argyle, Cundle has had an impressive opener to this term. A quick start with Plymouth, vying to stay in the league (now 21st out of 24), paired with previous praise from youth management suggests that Cundle's skills could extend to a Premier League level.
How good could Luke Cundle be?
Back in 2021, Wolves' U23 coach James Collins couldn't speak highly enough of Cundle's midfield traits following a fightback Premier League 2 win against Birmingham City.
“He’s ready for that step up. Whether that’s with our first team or whether that’s a loan, because watching him out there, I thought he was magnificent. He’s got an outstanding brain and drives the game, he runs the game and dictates it which is a great skill.
"He’s intelligent, makes good decisions, can attack and defend and when you first see him, you wonder whether he could be a Premier League player because he’s slight and small. But once you’ve worked with him for a bit you can see how much of a good player he is."
A look to this season's stats, as said, dovetails with his previous manager's enthusiasm. Already, he's on steady course to beat last term's Swansea City stat pack in just nine games for Argyle.
With three goals and one assist – Cundle looks to be an integral focal for a team that could have some difficult outings this campaign. FBref implies Cundle's edge and quality further as from midfield, he has a non-penalty xG of 0.24 per 90 (top 33% percentile).
In terms of passes, Cundle attempts 49.83 of them per match, and this translates to not only being in the top 14% percentile – yet it adds further likeliness for assists. An assist total of 0.24 sits the Wolves loanee in the top 23% bracket when compared to other similar prospects.
However, pass completion is where Cundle stands alone in the top 1% bracket – with a superb 87.1% completion rate per 90. These 4.79 passes per 90 being progressive hints to Cundle's potential to really push on any attack.
Whether it be Championship new-boys or Premier League Wolves, Cundle has this great dexterity that if given the chance to blossom: could project him onto our nation's wider footballing consciousness.
Just ask the aforementioned Gibbs-White, who like his fellow midfielder benefitted greatly from the type of education Cundle is now receiving in the EFL. Such a loan could well see him prosper at first-team level next term under Gary O'Neil, or fetch a big fee for the club.