Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Julen Lopetegui will have to decide in January whether to sell Adama Traore or keep the winger and risk losing him for nothing next summer, says journalist Pete O'Rourke.

The Midlands club find themselves in a tricky spot with the 26-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

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Wolves transfer news - Adama Traore

Traore is being linked with a move to Tottenham as his contract at Molineux, which is worth £46,000 a week, according to Salary Sport, continues to run down.

Transfer reporter Dean Jones recently told GIVEMESPORT that he always suspected that the north London club could go back in for the Spaniard.

The above comes after 90min claimed that Tottenham retain an interest in Traore after trying to sign him in the past.

And with the Wolves man now approaching the end of his deal, they could have a great chance to finally land him.

What has Pete O'Rourke said about Julen Lopetegui, Adama Traore and Wolves?

O'Rourke thinks Lopetegui and Wolves are going to have a big decision to make with Traore next month.

Speaking to GMS, the journalist said: "Do they decide now in this January transfer window to cash in on him rather than letting him walk away on a free transfer? That's going to be a decision that they're going to have to make.

"The new coach, Julen Lopetegui, will he decide to let him leave or maybe put him back in the team to try and help Wolves climb away from relegation trouble?"

Read more: January Transfer Window 2023: When Does It Begin, Rumours and Everything You Need To Know

Will Adama Traore leave Wolves?

Everything is pointing towards that. Again, his contract is about to expire and he has not looked settled at Molineux for a while now.

It was, of course, only last season when Traore departed Wolves temporarily after joining Barcelona on loan. There, however, he was not able to make much of an impact.

In 11 La Liga appearances, the Spain international failed to score a single goal. He was also unable to register in any of the six Europa League games he played, as per Transfermarkt.

And it has been a similar story this season at Wolves, with Traore finding the back of the net on just one occasion in the Premier League so far.

Goalscoring has never been Traore's biggest strength, though. What he excels at is dribbling. As shown on FBref, Traore has ranked in the 99th percentile for dribbles among attacking midfielders and wingers over the last year. If Lopetegui does want to keep hold of him, that will be one reason why.

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