Joao Moutinho is one of the greatest players to turn out for Wolves in the modern era, and his most recent performance showed he’s still got it, even at 38-years-old.
Moutinho spent an incredible five years at Wolves, wowing supporters with his incredible midfield performances, including his world-class passing range.
The Portuguese maestro accumulated 212 appearances for the Old Gold before leaving for SC Braga in 2023, leaving in the same transfer window as Ruben Neves.
Although Moutinho almost signed for Tottenham years before joining Wolves, the midfielder will always be remembered for what he achieved under the guidance of Nuno Espirito Santo, most notably successive Europa League campaigns.
Remarkably, the former Porto man is still starring in Europe to this day and on Saturday, he produced a display that rolled back the years.
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Joao Moutinho assisted twice for SC Braga against Estoril
While Wolves are currently flying under Vitor Pereira, almost mathematically guaranteeing Premier League survival, Moutinho is starring for SC Braga.
The Portuguese outfit are battling for the Europa League qualifying spot in Liga Portugal, with a third-place finish required to seal the deal.
Braga are currently third, one point above Porto, after beating Estoril 2-0 on Saturday as Moutinho produced a midfield masterclass.
Moutinho used his impeccable vision, technique and execution to assist Ismael Gharbi twice with two perfectly weighted lofted passes, rolling back the years as a master technician.
His brilliant over-the-top through balls helped his side serve up the perfect away performance to keep themselves in the top three.
To many Wolves fans, it won’t be a surprise to see the veteran perform at such a high level, as they were used to witnessing his all-round game flourish at Molineux.
Moutinho’s stats against Estoril
Up until this season, Wolves missed someone like their former midfield magician. Interestingly, Dave Edwards has claimed that summer signing Andre is even better than Moutinho and Neves, emerging as a top-drawer deep-lying playmaker.
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But the former Portugal international did show that he’s still capable of playing at a similar level to Andre, as demonstrated by his two assists and the rest of his statistics against Estoril.
Joao Moutinho’s stats against Estoril
- 79 minutes played
- 2 assists
- 90 touches
- 8/9 accurate long balls
- 3/6 ground duels won
- 2 fouls drawn
- 2 tackles
- 1 interception
In a quality afternoon’s work for Moutinho, which saw him register an assist for the first time this season, Wolves fans will be pleased to see him still dominating the tempo of games nearly two years after leaving Molineux.