Gary O’Neil might have just hinted something very exciting ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Wolves returned to winning ways in pre-season with a dominant 3-0 win over RB Leipzig to conclude their US tour.
Gary O’Neil will be delighted with how his side approached the tour, with plenty of positives to take from the squad’s three friendlies.
One overriding plus from the club’s time in the States has been the new arrivals, as Rodrigo Gomes scored his third goal of the tour against Leipzig.
Aside from the 21-year-old’s superbly worked and finished goal, fans will be excited about another element of his performance.
RB Leipzig win hinted that Wolves could play Rodrigo Gomes and Pedro Neto together
Earlier in pre-season, journalist Liam Keen explained that he expected it to be “one or the other” when it came to playing Pedro Neto and Gomes.
Against Leipzig, O’Neil handed Neto his first minutes of pre-season, playing on his favoured right side with Gomes shifting over to the left.
The manager’s decision to play the two dynamic wingers at the same time will excite Wolves fans, who saw a glimpse of how exciting the Old Gold could be going forward next term.
Given how instrumental Neto was to Wolves’ 2023/24 campaign, it’s encouraging to learn that O’Neil could mirror the 24-year-old’s threat to the left side by utilising Gomes.
While many expected Gomes to potentially be a replacement for Neto, the tide is turning, with it now a possibility that the duo could light up the flanks in O’Neil’s side next season.
Gomes showed his quality against RB Leipzig
Signed from Braga following a successful season-long loan at Estoril, it was difficult to predict just what Wolves could expect to see from Gomes.
Pre-season has indicated that supporters will see a lot of the 21-year-old in the campaign ahead, with him seeming to fit into the manager’s system with ease.
Now that the expectation that Neto will depart has shifted slightly, Wolves fans could start imagining a season fuelled with Gomes and Neto magic.
Speaking after the RB Leipzig victory, O’Neil stressed that while it’s easy to form a comparison between the profiles of the £18m capture and Gomes, the duo are vastly different, via Express and Star.
“He’s [Gomes] very different to Pedro Neto. He’s a winger from Portugal so people like to make comparisons, but he’s different.
“Pedro does a lot of his good work driving with the ball, whereas Rodrigo links and makes runs without it. He covers a lot of ground without the ball and arrives in key areas.”
It’s fascinating to learn that Wolves could have the danger of Neto on the wing cloned through Gomes next season, in what is poised to be a thrilling campaign if form continues at Molineux.