Comment: Benik Afobe bagged on Wolves' and Nuno's terms

Control of a match, control of possession, control of Wolves' own destiny in their promotion race.

And plenty of control was exerted on Wednesday evening when Wolves donned their most impassive of poker faces in their pursuit of Benik Afobe.

At 10pm the deal was dead in the water, it didn't exist, Wolves' business was finished.

Then Bournemouth blinked, caved and relented to the extent that Wolves got the deal they wanted.

You can almost picture Thelwell, Shi and co belting out Lady Gaga's Poker Face in the office at 11.01pm. The move was on their terms – and what a move it is.

A pertinent question was recently posed on Twitter, namely 'of the the former Wolves players who are still playing, who would you most like to see back at the club?'.

The one that sprang to mind was the 2014/15 Benik Afobe. You know, the guy who scored 32 goals for MK Dons and Wolves in just 51 games?

It was rightly seen as a big coup for Wolves to snare Afobe from Arsenal at the time, especially for the peanuts they paid for him.

Afobe picked Wolves over a host of other clubs...and now he's done so again. As Shi said on Wednesday, it was destiny the two would become entwined again.

And if Wolves do get the Afobe who lit up the Championship, boy have they got a hell of a player on their hands again.

It was clear within minutes of his debut, as a 57th minute substitute against Blackpool (an emotional occasion as a packed house paid tribute to Sir Jack Hayward) that Afobe could be something special.

Quick, alert, skilful, good in the air, technically sound and mostly importantly a deadly finisher who could score a wide variety of goals...Afobe was unstoppable that season and it was obvious from an early stage he was destined for bigger things.

His triumvirate with Nouha Dicko and Bakary Sako only lasted for four glorious months but in that time they sparked a giddy enthusiasm among an enchanted fanbase who sang their names week after week.

It was glorious to witness three players at the very top of their game, in tandem. It was a rare thing. Indeed, none of the trio have been as prolific ever since.

Sadly the band soon broke up and now Afobe will look to spark up something similar with Diogo Jota, Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa and Leo Bonatini.

On the face of it, it's hard to see how it won't work. Afobe is still aged just 24 and after two frustrating seasons at Bournemouth feels he has a point to prove.

Either way it's a low risk deal for Wolves. Yes they'd paying Afobe's sizeable wages and a £1m loan fee, but there is, crucially, no obligation for them to buy in the summer, which is what they wanted.

Afobe gets the regular football he craves, Wolves get a quality and proven Championship striker in their squad and Bournemouth get a chance to see an unwanted player's value potentially rise. It should be win-win-win.

As for the window as a whole, it was a successful one for the club.

With the considerable luxury of an 11-point lead at the top of the Championship, Wolves could sit back and let the lunacy unfold around them until their last-ditch panic to get the Afobe deal done.

Otherwise, all Wolves’ first-team dealings in January had been all wrapped up by January 3, when 20-year-old Rafa Mir joined from Valencia.

Instead, the month was more about shipping players out. Eight with first-team experience moved out the door either permanently or on loan, with Jack Price, Lee Evans, Ben Marshall and Michal Zyro the most notable departures.

As for incomings, if Afobe was a window into Wolves’ past then the other players who joined were all signed with an eye very much on Wolves’ future.

Mir (aged 20), Ben Stevenson (20), Reimao Nogueira (19) and Andreas Sondergaard (17) were Wolves’ January additions, with three of them going straight into the under-23 set-up (although in Stevenson’s case he’s off on loan first) which is now so stocked full of players a training game resembles the set of 300.

And arguably the best bit of business the did was to finalise the permanent move of Diogo Jota, which the club have announced will go ahead in the summer.

Jota is one of the most gifted players to step on to the Molineux turf in many a year.

And a world in which Wolves have him, Ruben Neves, Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro – plus potentially Afobe in the summer – on their permanent books is one – new striker on deadline day or not – we should savour.

As he looked ahead to the coming months Afobe said he was taking nothing for granted – but is clearly excited at what could lie ahead.

"Because I've scored goals before at Wolves doesn't mean I walk into the team," he said today.

"For me being that close to not being here, it makes me more hungry to do well, because I wanted it that badly.

"I've got to do well now – there's no going back in the sense of, ruining my legacy. I'm not a legend or anything, I only played 48 games for the club.

"But it'd be nice for the fans to remember me for the right reasons whether it's another four months or four years, only God knows what will happen.

"It'd be nice if the fans kept good thoughts about me from the time I'm here."

If Wolves are getting the 2014/15 Afobe, they certainly will.