Goncalo Guedes has been a surprise feature of Wolves’ pre-season this summer.
The winger spent last season out on loan, initially being with Benfica after a stint with them the previous season, before moving to Villarreal in January.
Guedes first joined Benfica in January 2023 when it became clear that he did not want to be at Wolves.
Julen Lopetegui sanctioned his exit, and was quoted as saying at the time: “He is a good player and a good guy but he doesn’t want to be here.”
So since those comments and Guedes’ loan moves away, the narrative has been that the player will not play for Wolves again, and that his transfer from Valencia in the first place was a mistake.
But over the past few weeks, the narrative seems to have been changing around Guedes – and the player has just made an interesting new post on Instagram.
Goncalo Guedes all smiles in latest batch of Instagram photos after claims he’s wanted to leave Wolves
Guedes did not go to Wolves’ training camp in Marbella, and this didn’t really come as too much of a surprise.
There had been speculation at that point that Guedes was still intent on leaving the club.
But Gary O’Neil then threw a real curveball, giving the player minutes in the training match against Bristol City at Compton Park. This came as a surprise, despite the fact Guedes had been at Compton working on his conditioning in the days prior.
Then, Guedes flew out to Miami with the squad for the next phase of pre-season. Just before that flight, a happy-looking Guedes had been pictured with a number of other Wolves players at a basketball game in London.
While Wolves were out in Miami, Guedes was often seen cutting a relaxed figure and was all smiles in photos put out by the club and in other players’ social media posts.
He continued to feature in games, playing half an hour against West Ham United, an hour against Crystal Palace and about 15 minutes against RB Leipzig. After the game with the Bundesliga side, former Old Gold midfielder Dave Edwards noted that he had looked sharp, and branded his movement ‘fabulous’.
Last night, Guedes uploaded some new photos to his grid on Instagram, the first time he’s uploaded pictures of himself in Wolves gear since November 2022. He has uploaded six pictures in black and white and is smiling broadly in four of them.
Guedes might just stay at Wolves
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There may well be nothing in Guedes’ latest post on Instagram.
But it is difficult not to look into it, because if the player was not happy at the club and wanted to leave, as has been reported several times previously, then he surely would not have posted anything at all.
He could obviously still leave. A recent report suggested Wolves could be open to selling him for around £17 million.
Putting happy pictures on Instagram doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But his exit is certainly just starting to look less nailed-on than it did a few weeks ago and his post is quite interesting.
It would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago that he could be sticking around, given how his stint at Wolves went after he signed. But there is undoubtedly a player there who could be of use to O’Neil, and if things have changed and Guedes’ head and heart are now fully in at Wolves, then it’s a no-brainer to keep hold of him.