Bruno Lage has suggested that it would cost Wolves a small fortune to buy players like Luke Cundle and Max Kilman.
The English duo have enjoyed something of breakthrough seasons to varying degrees and rewarded the club’s patience.
And Lage told the Express and Star ahead of the clash with Watford tomorrow night (Thursday) there are other Molineux youngsters who can emulate them.
“Where can you find, for the right price, a central defender like Max?.
“It takes time. He worked with Nuno for around three of four years and now one year with me.
“Where can we find a player like Luke, who played for the first time against Tottenham in the way he played? These kind of things take time.
“I know the way, because I’ve worked in academies, and I know what we need to do with these kids. We need to give them time and confidence, but the most important thing is to give them space to start working in the first team.
There are young, talented players in the under-18s, who also sometimes play with the under-23s. That shows the work that the people from the academy are doing here. The examples are what Max and Cundle have been doing since the first day.
“It’s so important that the fans understand the project. We have a solid base, a good group of kids with talent that need space and an opportunity to work here with the first team and to play in the first team.”
Cundle will look at Kilman as a player he can go on and copy if he keeps his patience and keeps his head down.
The defender has had to bide his time and perhaps the change of manager from Nuno Espirito Santo to Lage has helped him too.
Cundle has a good future ahead of him and is learning from some elite international central midfielders which can only benefit him.
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