Wolverhampton Wanderers have endured a mediocre start to the new season, winning five and losing five of their twelve Premier League games so far. 

But it has been a campaign thwart with new challenges - some self-created, such as the decision to cash-in on Diogo Jota and Matt Doherty during the summer, and some thrust upon them, chiefly injuries to key players. 

Indeed, as well as being without Raul Jimenez for the foreseeable future after his horror head injury against Arsenal, Wolves regular Jonny has been absent for the whole campaign due to a knee injury - and there's still no time-scale on when he'll return. 

The Spaniard's absence has created structural problems for Nuno Santo that he's still yet to truly overcome.

Tellingly, four different players have been used on the left of Wolves' defence this season without any being particularly convincing, and that has even lead to the Molineux gaffer fielding four-man backlines for the first time since he came to the Midlands. 

The experiment has produced mixed results. A draw against Southampton and a win over Arsenal have been followed by defeats to Liverpool and Aston Villa.

While there are clear advantages to the new system, such as getting four attacking players on the pitch at the same time, it's still somewhat alien to Wolves' DNA under Nuno.

The squad is built as a three-at-the-back side, and Wolves' ability to be the Premier League's best in executing that niche has secured them two seventh-place finishes in the last two seasons. 

Right now, Nuno seems to believe he doesn't have the right ingredients to play his customary system, but a report from The Daily Star suggests that might be about to change. 

They claim Wolves are ready to go back in for summer target Oleksandr Zinchenko, having failed with a £19m bid for his services during the summer. 

Zinchenko was keen to fight for his place at Manchester City but he's been granted just 12 minutes' worth of Premier League action this season, which could pave the way for a move to Molineux. 

Nuno is said to be a big fan of Zinchenko's technical ability, and the fact he can operate in defence or midfield.

GIVEMESPORT's Christy Malyan says...

That last nugget of information is particularly important, because wide players who can operate in defence or midfield are, more often than not, natural candidates to operate as wing-backs. 

Zinchenko's certainly got the quality to make an offensive impact from that role - from 14 starts for Man City in the 2018/19 season, he provided three assists - although it might take him a little time to truly build up the stamina to bomb up and down the pitch for ninety minutes. 

Nonetheless, with Jonny sidelined for the foreseeable future and summer signing Marcal looking a lot more conservative in nature than a typical wing-back (he's produced just one assist in the last four seasons) Zinchenko could be the signing that gets Wolves back to what they do best, namely using the idiosyncrasies of a functioning 3-4-3 to outfox Premier League opposition.