‘Complete’ player who Wolves chose not to sign will have Jeff Shi squirming amid Luke Modric comparison

Wolves have brought several talented players to Molineux over the years.

Fosun have their critics, but on their watch supporters have been able to watch some serious talents grace the Molineux turf.

The likes of Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto came and went, but there are several exciting talents in the current squad, such as Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Cunha and Joao Gomes.

But for every club, there are cases of ‘the one that got away’ and there are two big examples of this for Wolves at this moment in time.

Everyone is seeing what Viktor Gyokeres is doing for Sporting CP and Sweden. Chairman Jeff Shi was reportedly out of the country when Wolves are looking to sign Gyokeres, and as a result, talks dragged on and eventually, the situation fizzled out.

But there is another player right now who may also have Shi squirming.

• READ MORE: Five incredible signings Wolves almost made that could have changed historY

Former Wolves loanee Vitinha hailed as a ‘complete midfielder’

In the 2020/21 season, Wolves signed Vitinha on loan from FC Porto.

The youngster had the likes of Neves and Joao Moutinho ahead of him in the pecking order at Molineux, and struggled to start games.

In the end, he made 22 appearances for the club. Wolves had the chance to sign him for £17 million, but it was decided that option wouldn’t be taken up. Wolves actually declined to sign Vitinha permanently even after an extension.

Seemingly, Vitinha just didn’t do quite enough to warrant Wolves buying him, even though he’d shown flashes of his potential.

Since that decision by Wolves, Vitinha has gone from strength to strength.

He’s a regular for Paris Saint-Germain and recently, he finished 27th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or rankings, underlining his status as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Vitinha recently turned out for Portugal against Croatia and totally dominated. As per Sofascore, he completed an incredible 84/87 (97%) passes, with three of those being ‘key’. His assist for Joao Felix was sumptuous. He also had the most touches of any player in the game with 98.

Portuguese outlet A Bola were full of praise from Vitinha after the 1-1 draw, saying of him: “Vitinha gets bigger, solves games and discovers shortcuts where others find alleys and scenic fears. He is a midfielder of world caliber, of a rare finesse, who left FC Porto well-worked by Sérgio Conceição. This merit no one takes away from the former coach of the dragons. The result is this, a more complete midfielder that can exist.”

The outlet also described him as their own Modric for his ‘skill, intelligence and ability to make simple what for so many players on this planet is complex’.

• READ MORE: Vitinha grateful for ‘very good’ Wolves stint despite limited game timE

Shi should have gambled on Vitinha

It is perhaps understandable that Wolves didn’t sign Vitinha in the end given the money involved against how he had performed.

But had to have been a hard call, because Vitinha did show glimpses of his ability.

He now finds himself as one of the best midfielders on the planet and Jeff Shi is surely going to be sitting a little uncomfortably seeing how amazingly he’s developed.

Granted, he likely would not have become the exact same player had he completed a permanent move to Molineux.

But it sure would have been nice having him, knowing that Neves and Moutinho both weren’t staying for much longer.