Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has reserved high praise for summer signing Rodrigo Gomes.
The summer transfer window has been encouraging so far for Wolves, who have welcomed four players to the club.
Tommy Doyle’s loan from Manchester City was made permanent, with Rodrigo Gomes, Pedro Lima and Jorgen Strand Larsen following.
All three of the new faces have made a strong start to life under Gary O’Neil, with the manager having a lot to say about one newbie.
Gary O’Neil says Rodrigo Gomes epitomises culture he wants at Wolves
Currently, O’Neil’s squad are in the United States on a pre-season tour, where they will play two more fixtures before returning to the Midlands.
In the opening game of the tour, Wolves beat Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham side 3-1, which was an event that saw Gomes soar alongside his new teammates.
The Portuguese winger, who was signed for £12.7m from Braga, has impressed in both training and non-competitive matches after making the move to Wolves, seeing O’Neil sing his praises.
Speaking to Express and Star duo Liam Keen and Nathan Judah on the E&S Wolves Podcast, the boss opened up on what makes Gomes so special.
“Rodrigo is a great kid, if you cross that ball 100 times from the right, he will arrive at the back post 100 times.
“There’s never an excuse, there’s never a ‘I didn’t think it was coming’, he’ll just run and if it doesn’t, he’ll just run back.
“He’s one that really helps the culture of what we want to be as a team.”
The manager has made it clear that every player in his squad should show how much they want to play for Wolves, which Gomes follows strongly, as per the boss’ own assessment.
Gomes could become a favourite at Molineux
Not only has the 21-year-old impressed on the pitch after making the move to Molineux, but his personality has also made an impression.
Commenting on the youngster’s character during Wolves’ pre-season training camp in Marbella, Keen and Judah described Gomes as being a “genuinely lovely, innocent human being”, lauding his start to life at the club as “refreshing”, read more below.
- READ MORE: The ‘great sign’ about Wolves new boy Rodrigo Gomes, he could be another Matt Hobbs masterstroke
The Portuguese forward’s desire to achieve and develop at Wolves has seen him become a well-loved figure in the squad already, with O’Neil’s praise certainly encouraging.
It will be interesting to see how Gomes adapts to the Premier League, but if his fearless performances in pre-season are anything to go by, he’ll be just fine.