Nuno Espirito Santo and Jorge Mendes were responsible for the growth of Portugese talent at Wolves.
Nuno welcomed an abundance of talent from his homeland during his time at Wolves, with the trend ongoing under those who succeeded him.
From Ruben Neves to Joao Moutinho, Wolves have been called home for some of Portugal’s best over the years, as well as harvesting some nationals at earlier points in their careers.
In 2019, Wolves welcomed 19-year-old Pedro Neto to Molineux, seeing the teenager arrive from Lazio alongside fellow starlet Bruno Jordao.
Pedro Neto and Trincao guided by the same youth coach
Neto arrived with Jordao however, the pair went separate ways with regard to their Wolves careers.
The same can be said of another player that Neto spent time with before joining the Old Gold, being an academy teammate of Francisco Trincao.
In an interview with Sky Sports in 2021, former Braga academy coach Jose Carvalho Araujo revealed all about the two ex-Wolves stars.
Though Araujo spent time sharing the differences between Trincao and Neto, the former coach was clear about one thing the duo shared from a young age.
“He [Trincao] and Pedro Neto are very similar in that respect. Different styles of play, for sure. But with the same mindset, the same motivation.”
Araujo made it known that Neto and Trincao, two players who went on to represent Wolves, were ‘different’ from the rest at academy level.
“They were not the same as the rest, that was the thing you could see as kids. They had a mindset that others did not have. These guys were different.”
Neto made it at Wolves while Trincao moved on to impress
Still both only 25 years old, Neto and Trincao have a long way to go in their careers but sadly, their Wolves chapters have closed.
While Araujo held high praise for Trincao, lauding the Sporting CP star as ‘magic’ during the 2021 interview, it was Neto who went on to make it at Wolves while his teammate took an alternative route.
| Player | Apps | Goals | Assists |
| Francisco Trincao | 30 | 3 | 1 |
| Pedro Neto | 135 | 14 | 24 |
Wolves paid Barcelona £5m to send Trincao back after his loan spell, refusing to take up the option to sign the winger permanently.
Neto, however, went on to make 135 appearances for Wolves before leaving Molineux to sign for Chelsea in the 2024 summer transfer window.
The potential of the two former Wolves forwards was noticeable from the earliest stages of their careers, with only one rising as a Premier League player.