Wolverhampton Wanderers have reportedly identified Toulouse winger Zakaria Aboukhlal as a potential January transfer target.
Gary O'Neil's side are still waiting to record their first top-flight win of the season, accumulating just two points from their opening nine matches during 2024-25.
However, a stunning two-goal comeback to secure a draw at Brighton & Hove Albion has provided the West Midlands outfit with some momentum ahead of a crucial clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Despite sitting in 19th position in the Premier League standings, Wolves have not been short of goals. In fact, they have netted in their last eight league fixtures.
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As many as eight teams have scored fewer times than Wolves in this season's Premier League, so strengthening a defence that possesses the worst record by some margin during the January window will be the priority.
Nevertheless, according to Africafoot, there is interest in adding to their options in the final third.
Wolves keen on Aboukhlal?
The Wolves hierarchy, spearheaded by sporting director Matt Hobbs, have allegedly moved to express an interest in Aboukhlal.
Contact is said to have been made with their Toulouse counterparts to determine whether it may be possible to sign the 24-year-old at the turn of the year.
Aboukhlal has contributed three goals and one assist from nine Ligue 1 outings this campaign, all of which have come during his last three appearances.
As well as netting against Lille prior to the October international break, the Morocco international produced a man-of-the-match showing in the 3-0 triumph at Montpellier on Sunday.
Two strikes and one assist came in that fixture to move Toulouse into 14th position in the Ligue 1 table, five points ahead of their bottom-placed opponents.
Wolves allegedly have eyes on an initial loan deal with the option to buy in the summer. Aboukhlal holds a contract at Toulouse until 2026.
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How has Aboukhlal fared during his career?
Having been born in Rotterdam, the early part of his career was spent in the Netherlands representing Willem II Under-19s, PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar.
The bulk of his Eredivisie appearances, where he contributed eight goals and one assist from 69 outings, came in the colours of the latter.
Since moving to Toulouse, though, Aboukhlal has been a star performer. As many as 21 goals and six assists have been recorded from 65 appearances in all competitions.
That is all the more impressive through the playmaker undergoing knee surgery during the early part of last season.
Aboukhlal earned four of his 21 caps for Morocco at the 2022 World Cup, his most notable contribution coming against Belgium when he scored one of the goals in a 2-0 victory for the eventual semi-finalists.
Darren Plant
