After enjoying a career-best league campaign in front of goal in 2023/24, many Wolves fans expected Hwang Hee-chan to really kick in 2024/25.
However, in the first half of 2024/25, the South Korean painfully struggled for form, failing to score in any of his first 13 Premier League appearances. As a result of this torrid run, Hee-chan was eventually dropped by former Wolves manager Gary O’Neil.
Since O’Neil lost his job in mid-December and was replaced by Portuguese boss Vitor Pereira, Hee-chan has begun to show some signs of life in front of goal once again.
The forward netted his side’s second in a shock 2-0 win over Manchester United on Boxing Day, before doubling his tally for the 2024/25 campaign with a wonderful sweeping effort in an impressive 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in north London over the weekend.
Hwang Hee-chan has 100% shot conversion rate in Premier League after Tottenham goal
Rather remarkably, those two goals actually came from his first two shots on goal of the season, meaning that Hee-chan now has an impressive 100% shot conversion record in the English top-flight for the 2024/25 campaign.
The South Korean was eased into shooting again with his first goal, side-footing the ball home from close range after being teed up by star teammate Matheus Cunha against Man Utd.
His second goal then came in his first start under Pereira – and first Wolves start since mid-September – against a struggling Spurs side, and showed off his ability to score from long range too as he curled beautifully into the bottom corner from 20-yards out.
MORE WOLVES STORIES
Vitor Pereira reveals Hwang Hee-chan’s goal came from the training ground
Hee-chan has undoubtedly been boosted by the backing he’s received from new manager Pereira since he’s taken charge.
The forward has been backed publicly by the new Wolves boss, with Pereira hailing Hee-chan as a player who can ‘score a goal from nothing’ prior to the game against Tottenham.
Speaking after the game, Pereira discussed the South Korean further, revealing to the press that his stunning goal in the 2-2 draw came courtesy of some hard work on the training ground:
“It was the space that we had analysed from this team and we saw they concede this space, and we tried in the training and in the game,” said Pereira.
“Sometimes we work a lot at something in training and it’s not possible in the game, but today it was like a laboratory goal.
“We had two assistants directly studying the set-plays and they proposed the movement and they proposed the space – they do this every match, and this is their work. They asked me if I agree with the space, and I said to them, ‘I believe it can work’.”