When a football club changes manager, players can fly or fade – and in the case of Hugo Bueno at Wolves, it has been more the latter.
Bueno was one of the shining lights at Molineux last season amid a rollercoaster season.
The 21-year-old made his debut for the club in October against Nottingham Forest and days later, he came in for his first start against Crystal Palace.
Wolves lost against the Eagles but Bueno was arguably the visitors’ best player, and he largely kept his place in the team from that point on.
Julen Lopetegui came in just before the end of 2022 and immediately took a liking to Bueno, starting him in the majority of games he was available for.
Rayan Ait-Nouri couldn’t get a look in, with the manager leaving him out of nine matchday squads towards the end of the campaign, with Bueno playing the bulk and Toti Gomes filling in here and there in what was a back four.
Lopetegui loved his fellow countryman and a year ago, he said of Bueno: “He’s young, but he’s very balanced in his character and in his skills, in the defensive and offensive phase. He has improved more in both phases of the play.
“He has the profile of player, if you ask me, that he is going to improve. He is very professional and he wants to learn in his daily work. this is the first step to improve in the next years.”
Unfortunately for Bueno this term, he has so far not really been able to build on his early first-team success, with Gary O’Neil very taken by Ait-Nouri – who has been outstanding.
Hugo Bueno now has a golden chance to impress O’Neil with Rayan Ait-Nouri at AFCON
Bueno has been able to make just 13 appearances so far this term, with an injury ruling him out of six Premier League games earlier in the season.
While Bueno was on the treatment table, Ait-Nouri went from strength to strength and is very much the number one option now for O’Neil to play on the left side.
But Ait-Nouri has just been called up by Algeria for AFCON, meaning this potentially is a chance for Bueno to really impress O’Neil.
The wing-backs system has been working for Wolves, so there’s a good chance Bueno will get the nod to replace Ait-Nouri directly, as opposed to Toti playing as a wing-back with Santi Bueno coming into the backline.
If given a run in the team, Bueno – a player dubbed ‘excellent’ by sporting director Matt Hobbs shortly after his breakthrough to the first-team – really needs to make the most of his opportunities.
Ait-Nouri has been outstanding this season and it’s going to take a lot for O’Neil to drop him, but Bueno is a top young talent himself and he has the potential to at least make life difficult for the manager.