Julen Lopetegui has a number of things he needs to address at Wolves – and unlocking Matheus Nunes is going to be one of the new manager’s top priorities.
The new manager takes over at Molineux with the club rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
It’s been a terrible start to the new season, with just two wins on the board so far.
The biggest thing for Lopetegui to address is the goalscoring issue. It is just eight goals scored so far, which is an awful return.
The defence also needs to be tighter, with standards having slipped in recent weeks.
But Lopetegui also needs to unlock Matheus Nunes, who’s had a bit of an underwhelming start to his Molineux career.
For a lot of Wolves fans, Nunes was the most exciting signing of the summer. The club chased him for weeks, and few could believe it when he actually signed.
Many of Europe’s top clubs wanted him. But Wanderers got the deal done and he was surely going to absolutely shine at Molineux.
But that has not been the case yet.
There have been glimpses of his talents. But by and large, Nunes has not been all that influential yet in a Wolves shirt.
But arguably, the 24-year-old has not been playing the role that made him so successful at Sporting CP.
At the Portuguese giants, he tended to play in a two, and he had license to go from box to box.
Since coming to Wolves, he has, for some reason, been deployed as an attacking midfielder for the most-part.
This does not get the best out of him. For Sporting, he was at his best when picking the ball up a bit deeper and surging through the lines with his athleticism and dribbling.
Julen Lopetegui will be onto a winner if he can unlock Matheus Nunes at Wolves
Solving the goalscoring issue should be at the top of Lopetegui’s agenda.
But unlocking Nunes should not be far behind that.
He is a quality player, with traits that not too many midfielders in Europe have. Wolves really do have a gem of a player on their hands but so far he has been wasted.
Fans will feel as though a top coach like Lopetegui will be able to get the most out of him.
And when that does eventually happen, Wolves will be an entirely different animal.