Wolves have started their pre-season, and journalist Liam Keen has offered his thoughts on Rodrigo Gomes after watching him for the first time.
Rodrigo became Wolves’ second signing of the summer, but first new face, after Tommy Doyle turned his loan move to the club permanent.
The star signed from Braga, after a very successful loan move at Estoril.
Rodrigo played as a right wing-back last term. But it has been suggested that the youngster is comfortable playing as a winger and on either side.
Yesterday, the E&S shared a new video of journalist Nathan Judah and Liam Keen reporting from Wolves’ training base in Marbella.
They have watched the first session, and Keen offered his thoughts about Rodrigo.
Rodrigo Gomes was playing on the left in first Wolves pre-season training session
Part of the appeal for Wolves with Rodrigo was that he is a versatile player.
For Estoril he played almost exclusively as a right wing-back. But by trade, he is a winger, and has the capacity to play on the left side.
It will be interesting to see where the majority of his minutes will come in 2024/25, especially with Gary O’Neil supposedly wanting to go to a back four.
On Wednesday morning, Rodrigo was said to be playing on the left during some drills Wolves were doing out in Marbella.
Keen said (via E&S): “I’ll come back to Rodrigo Gomes, because it was slightly more interesting, I felt.
“He can play either wing. He did play a lot last season on the right. He was actually lining up on the left here, with (Jean-Ricner) Bellegarde on the right.
“Sometimes wing-backs, sometimes forwards, they were testing different formations out. Fours and fives. Maybe a small surprise to see him out on the left. Clearly they see Bellegarde out on the right side for the time being.”
Rodrigo’s position will be intriguing
It will be fascinating to see where O’Neil mostly deploys Rodrigo in 2024/25.
Obviously, he was one of the best players in the Portuguese top-flight last term playing in a wing-back role.
Seemingly, the intention is to use Rodrigo higher up, and it’s interesting he was playing on the left side in the first pre-season session.
Last term, a number of players played on the left side. Hwang Hee-chan, Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha all had spells there, while Rayan Ait-Nouri has also been deployed as a left winger.
One wonders if Rodrigo playing on the left might mean Cunha operates more centrally in 2024/25 – potentially in a partnership with Jorgen Strand Larsen.