Wolves captain Conor Coady has lavished praise on Toti Gomes, after the defender emerged as a first-team option last season.
The club moved to recall Toti from his loan spell with Swiss outfit Grasshoppers in January.
Bruno Lage had a centre-back shortage, with Willy Boly and Yerson Mosquera both injured, and Romain Saiss heading off to AFCON.
Toti returned, as did Dion Sanderson.
Most fans expected Sanderson, if anybody, to see first-team minutes.
But Lage handed Toti a surprise Premier League debut against Southampton, and the star really impressed.
He did well in the next couple of games against Brentford and Norwich City in the FA Cup.
Toti then had to be patient for his next chances, playing in the final two Premier League games of the season when Saiss was injured.
Across his five appearances, Toti really did give a great account of himself.
And Coady has hailed the 23-year-old for the way he emerged. He said (via Express & Star): “He’s been excellent since he’s come in, absolutely excellent.
“Our defence is something we have built ourselves on in recent years.
“It’s something we need to improve, set pieces and goals, and it’s something we look at as a defence. But Toti has been fantastic since he’s come in. He was on holiday in January, so to get the call to come in and then play as he has in the Premier League, is fantastic.”
Toti Gomes needs more involvement for Wolves in 2022/23, as Conor Coady hails teammate
As Coady says, Toti was excellent when he was called upon last term.
To have been recalled from a loan spell in Switzerland and then be thrown into a Premier League game would have been a daunting thing to happen for him.
But he handled it extremely well, and has never looked out of place when playing for the first-team.
He should be having more involvement next season.
Potentially, if Lage puts his faith in him, he could develop in a similar way to Maximilian Kilman.