Wolverhampton Wanderers confirmed their place in next year’s Premier League with a victory over Birmingham on Sunday. The Portuguese midfielder, Ruben Neves has definitely been the star of the Championship this season following his surprise move from Porto last summer.
Wolves are financially backed by the Chinese conglomerate group Fosun International and enjoy close ties with agent Jorge Mendes and Ruben is among the players at Wolves who belong to this agent.
Neves is the traditional playmaker. He has a decent size about him, is mobile, has a bite in the tackle, is comfortable picking the ball up from the back four, is comfortable playing with the ball on the edge of the opposition box and dictates games with ease.
He isn’t a “box to box” midfielder in the traditional sense, but he’s not immobile either - he has a fabulous engine with an unbelievable eye for pass which neither the fans or the opposition see coming.
He doesn’t waste the ball either, almost every shot counts, he rarely misses the target. His performances have been to such a high level, and unsurprisingly for most of the season he has been man-marked, but his ability to create space with quick feet and quick short passing is quite special to see. He is literally undefendable in this division.
His ability to read the game sets him apart from anybody else at this level and is reminiscent of the true greats of that position. His ability to make space for himself, even under severe pressure reminds of Scholes.
Ruben hopes an outstanding first season in England can earn him a place in the Portugal squad at the World Cup finals in Russia this summer.
It’s quite unbelievable that he hasn’t won the Championship Player of the Season award. Despite that, Neves definitely has a feel of a player who at some point will play a big role at a big club.
Written by Rijad Abaza
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