Wolverhampton Wanderers have endured a tough start to the 2024/25 Premier League season, still awaiting their first win after two losses and a draw.
Despite this poor opening, Gary O’Neil is still the man for the job, especially with the decent transfer business he conducted during the summer.
Of course, Max Kilman and Pedro Neto departed for close to £100m combined, giving the Old Gold some flexibility in the market.
Several youngsters joined the club in the summer, with Pedro Lima among the new wave of players.
Pedro Lima’s Wolves statistics
The Brazilian hasn’t made an appearance in the top flight yet, but O’Neil did unleash the 18-year-old against Burnley in the EFL Cup last week.
It was the perfect chance for the youngster to showcase his talents and he duly delivered. Not only did the South American gem grab an assist, but he also created one big chance, made two key passes and succeeded with 100% of his dribbles during the clash against the second-tier side.
Assists
1
Touches
68
Key passes
2
Big chances created
1
Dribble attempts (successful)
1 (1)
Balls recovered
9
Lima also recovered nine balls and made seven tackles, showing his defensive skills too. It was a stunning debut for the youngster, which will hopefully point towards a bright future.
With Nelson Semedo’s contract expiring at the end of this season, could he be a logical option to replace the Portuguese defender, or is there another player knocking on the door?
Why Dexter Lembikisa could replace Nelson Semedo
Previously, the Old Gold looked like they could struggle at right-back as Semedo was the only realistic option, but now Lima and Lembikisa could fight it out for the spot in the near future.
The 20-year-old has gained slightly more senior experience than the Brazilian, making 49 appearances during his career already for Wolves, Hearts and Rotherham.
The second half of last term saw the Jamaican defender join Hearts, where he made 18 appearances, scoring twice in the process.
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The youngster also created two big chances in the Premiership, along with averaging 0.8 key passes per game, and succeeded with 0.7 dribbles each match, demonstrating his forward-thinking abilities for the Jambos.
The 5 foot 11 gem certainly looks like a bright prospect and could go far. What he needs now is a run in the first team in order to build his confidence.
His former U18 coach Steve Davis hailed the right-back as a “top player” back in 2022, and it looks as though he is fulfilling his potential going by his decent loan spells in both Scotland and England.
This is likely to be Semedo’s final year at Molineux, especially with O’Neil signing Lima in the summer. The Brazilian has competition with the Jamacia international, however, and this battle could be good for both players as they stake a claim to become a regular in the starting XI.
Will an opportunity present itself for Lembikisa in the coming months? Only time will tell.
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