Wolves crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Brighton at the weekend, but it was a proud day for Mateus Mane.
Mane became Wolves’ youngest Premier League player ever, as he came on for the final stages of the game at Molineux.
Mane had made the bench a few times prior to Saturday, and there was a feeling that a debut was coming for the exciting youngster.
Vitor Pereira praised Mane last week, predicting he will be a part of the future of the club.
And after handing him his debut against Brighton, Pereira then revealed Mane will be a Wolves first-teamer next season.
Fans now have very high hopes for Mane, and those hopes will increase even more following an exciting verdict by Dave Edwards.
Dave Edwards shares the internal feeling about Mateus Mane at Wolves
Mane joined Wolves in March 2024 from AFC Rochdale.
Since signing for the club, he’s been on an exciting trajectory, quickly moving up from the U18s to the U21s and also playing for the England U18s.
It seems clear at this point that Mane is a very promising young player with a high ceiling.
Pereira has said he does not hand out token minutes, so that debut on Saturday was truly earned by Mane – and it now looks like he could have more involvements.
Dave Edwards has spoken about Mane in his latest E&S column, and is genuinely buzzing to see how the youngster will progress.
He said: “I know from the inside of the football club how highly they think of Mane and I was really excited to see him come on.
“A great moment for him regardless of the situation and the scoreline, but I thought he actually did really well considering the situation. He received the ball two or three times and he got his head up.
“He was trying to drift into areas with the ball, looking forward to see if he could make things happen.
“He looked very controlled, mature and exciting as well. I really hope we can see more of him in these final two games and I really hope that Mateus Mane is the one who jumps out of that academy and takes his chance because we’ve seen a lot of opportunities in recent years that haven’t been grasped.
“You look at the likes of Chirewa, Chiwome and Fraser last season, then the likes of Luke Cundle and Joe Hodge previously.
“No one’s really been able to stick around in that first team and be a starter, so let’s hope Mateus Mane can be that.
Mane could be best Wolves youngster since Hugo Bueno
The Wolves academy probably has not produced as many players as club officials would have hoped for in recent years.
We’ve seen the likes of Luke Cundle, Joe Hodge and Leon Chiwome get a few chances here and there but as Edwards says, none have stuck around.
Hugo Bueno is perhaps the biggest talent to come from the academy in recent years. The Spaniard is currently out on loan at Feyenoord and doing well.
But there seems to be a growing feeling that Mane might just be a more exciting talent.
Pereira has already branded him ‘special’ and suggested he could be a surprise in English football.
High praise indeed, and hopefully the teenager can live up to the hype.