Since gaining promotion back to the Premier League in 2018, some brilliant players have graced Molineux.
There have been some troubling times lately, and Vitor Pereira is doing his level best to get the club safe by the end of this season so the club can reset in the summer.
It seems like it’s been a while now since Wolves were looking to challenge for the European spots, with plenty of fingers being pointed at Fosun as the main culprits for the club’s demise.
But some very good deals happened on Fosun’s watch in that summer of 2018.
And arguably, one of the club’s greatest-ever signings was made in the form of Joao Moutinho, a player who instantly impressed Conor Coady at Molineux.
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Conor Coady immediately saw how good Joao Moutinho was at Wolves
Joao Moutinho enjoyed five years at Wolves, signing from FC Porto.
While had enjoyed a very good career up to the point of his move to the West Midlands, fans didn’t really expect too much, with Moutinho 31 at the time. He also arrived for a very modest £5 million transfer fee.
But Moutinho quickly set about showing that fee was an absolute bargain.
He would dominate games almost nonchalantly with his technical quality, press resistance and general brilliance, and his partnership with Ruben Neves was a sight to behold.
And for Coady, the star’s quality was clear from the first day he trained.
He told the E&S in an interview in 2019: “He’s special. We’re very lucky to have him. We knew the calibre of him coming in at the start of the season, we were all excited to work with him.
“He’s a European champion. You see his experience and how he can dictate things but his experience in the changing room. What he’s brought, professionalism, it’s absolutely fantastic.
“We were all looking forward to playing with him but seeing it first-hand is something else.
“What he’s done in the last year, he can control a game and dictate a game. We’re made up to have him here.”
“His first training session, he came out and trained without his laces done up, which I found unbelievable. It’s like he’s got slippers on.
“That’s just him, he’s quite laid back. He does things in training you wouldn’t believe.”
Moutinho was a class-act for Wolves
Moutinho was a pleasure to watch in a Wolves shirt.
He was perhaps not someone who should have thrived in English football due to his short stature and lack of physicality.
But Moutinho was so intelligent those things never mattered.
Moutinho was a master of ball retention and oozed quality, and one of the very best traits about him was that he was always available, making 212 appearances for the club.
It’s possible Wolves may now have an heir to Moutinho in Andre. But the Brazilian certainly has a way to go to make the same kid of impact as the Portuguese.