After months of speculation, Wolves bid farewell to Pedro Neto during the summer transfer window.
The Portuguese winger was sold to Chelsea when an offer of £54m was presented to the Old Gold, a fee deemed too good not to accept.
Wolves cut ties with Neto after five years at the club, giving Gary O’Neil a challenge to replace the rapid forward in the summer transfer window.
The manager was aware that he wasn’t going to find a true replacement for the 24-year-old however, the likes of Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs arrived to fill the void.
Gary O’Neil called on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde before Pedro Neto left Wolves
While the young duo are highly rated by the boss, it was another player who took Neto’s place at the start of the season, as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde started the opening six games.
In that time, the Frenchman contributed to two goals, providing one assist and scoring in Wolves’ 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Prior to the start of the season, fans wanted to see more from the £13m 2023 arrival, and so did O’Neil.
“That was the chat I had with him [Bellegarde] at the end of last season, that I saw him being important for us this season,” O’Neil said with regard to Bellegarde’s contribution going forward, via Express and Star.
The boss went on to explain the importance of Bellegarde stepping up in Neto’s absence, something Wolves were braced for even before the winger was sold.
“We knew that Pedro might leave and it may open things up more for him, and he needed to stay injury free and in a good spot.”
The former Strasbourg star has impressed in spells during his Wolves career, with it clear that the next task is for the 26-year-old to build some consistency.
O’Neil wants Bellegarde to contribute to more goals
There’s a particular area that O’Neil wants to see consistency from Bellegarde, as the manager called on his signing to score and assist more.
“He’s had a decent start but I want to keep pushing him for more goal involvements and more quality in the final third, but he’s working very hard,” O’Neil explained.
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“The game has gone that way and you do need to be able to cope with the physicality of the Premier League.”
The manager then emphasised the importance of having the strength to play in the English top flight, warning that it’s ‘very difficult’ to find another way to impress.
“If you’re below that [physicality], it’s very difficult to make it up in other ways. You need to be extremely good at something else.”
O’Neil has set a challenge to Bellegarde, a task that the player became aware of prior to Neto’s exit, with Wolves needing to see more from the versatile midfielder very soon.