The Renaissance of Hwang Hee-chan at Wolverhampton Wanderers

Aptly nicknamed “Hwangso," the bull, Hwang Hee-chan has seen nothing but red in front of goal this season. The South Korean only scored 8 goals and 2 assists in his first 57 Premier League appearances but he has already surpassed that tally this season with 10 goals and 3 assists in 20 -- only Mohamed Salah (14), Erling Haaland (14), Heung-min Son (12), Dominic Solanke (12) and Jarrod Bowen (11) have found the back of the net with greater regularity. He and Wolverhampton have probably been the surprises of the season so far with them surpassing all expectations so far and sitting 11th in the table after closing out 2023 with three straight wins against Chelsea, Brentford and Everton.

Five days before the season started, Julen Lopetegui resigned, and Gary O’Neil came in. After being sacked by Bournemouth, this was seen as a desperation move by Wolverhampton and were amongst the firm favourites to go down. However, the Midlands outfit is firmly in mid-table in 11th place and has been one of the neutral's favourite teams to watch. O’Neil coming in has shown immense confidence in Hwang and this has resulted in the Koreans boom this season.

The ex Leipzig-man spearheads Wolverhampton’s attack but also has license to drift off to the left wing in a three-man attack. This is the same tactic in which he was deployed to such devastating effect in Austria with Salzburg alongside Takumi Minamino and some unknown Norwegian called Erling Haaland. At Salzburg, Hwang recorded 45 goals and 28 assists in 124 matches, and he has finally been able to replicate this success at Molineux. It is clear to see having the space to drift off to the left and use his famed dynamism to run in behind is the tactic which suits him best. Minamino and Haaland have since been replaced by Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto. 

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