Wolves fans have had the privilege of watching some fantastic players over the years.
There has been a lot of criticism for Fosun in recent times for the way they have run the club, with many feeling there should have been more investment and more ambition.
Fosun had such a positive start to their reign, bringing in several players to help the club gain promotion to the Premier League.
And once there, more top additions were made which saw Wolves become a genuinely feared outfit in the top-flight.
Under Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves sealed back-to-back seventh placed finishes, and had runs to a Europa League quarter-final and FA Cup semi-final.
The good times haven’t been felt for a hot minute at Molineux, and many yearn for that kind of success again.
Back when Wolves came back up, the recruitment was arguably much better than it is now.
And one player who Fosun did strike gold with was Joao Moutinho.
- READ MORE: Joao Moutinho named the ‘smart’ Wolves player he absolutely loved playing with at Molineux
Joao Moutinho is one of Wolves’ biggest ever bargains
Joao Moutinho signed for Wolves from AS Monaco for just £5 million.
At the time, many felt this was a decent signing, but no one really expected him to pull up too many trees given his age.
But Moutinho quickly set about showing that his £5 million fee was extraordinarily cheap.
The Portuguese maestro would make the game look easy at times with his superb technical ability. While he wasn’t the quickest or the most physical, Moutinho more than held his own with his intelligence and guile.
His partnership with Ruben Neves was fantastic, and Moutinho was rarely out of the team during his four years at the club.
Indeed, his durability saw him make a staggering 212 appearances for the club – a truly amazing feat given he joined the club at 31.
The Portuguese had always had a good injury record before pitching up at Molineux. But fans did not expect that to continue, especially knowing how intense the Premier League is.
But Moutinho – who Conor Coady branded ‘special’ – was always there and always available, and Wanderers were a better team for having him in it.
Wolves miss having a player like Moutinho. The club no longer have a midfielder who just oozes pure technical class and creativity like he did, and Vitor Pereira probably wishes he could have worked with him again.
Pereira worked with Moutinho at Porto many years ago, and described him as one of the best players he’s ever coached.
There is also another reason Wolves miss Moutinho, and that is that he was the ultimate professional, and somebody everybody respected. With the exception of maybe Matt Doherty, there is no such figure in that dressing room now.
Today, the maestro celebrates his 39th birthday, and undoubtedly, he is still one of the biggest bargain signings the club have ever made and one of the best players to pull on the shirt.
What is Joao Moutinho doing now?
In the summer of 2023, Moutinho left Wolves when his contract expired.
It was thought that Moutinho was desperate to extend his stay at Wolves, but an agreement could not be reached.
Wolves wanted to move in a new direction and so he moved on, and signed for Braga back in Portugal.
So far, he’s made 87 appearances for them, again showing amazing durability, and this term alone he has already made seven appearances for 652 minutes of time on the pitch.
During his time at the club he has actually also won one trophy, the Taca de Portugal in 2024.
He may have just turned 39, but there have been no hints of retirement from Moutinho, and he’ll rightly be revered as a legendary Portuguese players once he does eventually hang up his boots.