Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has spoken out about Matheus Nunes’ exit to Manchester City, wishing the player well.
After a lengthy saga in which the Portugal international went on strike at Molineux, the 25-year-old joined for about £53 million on transfer deadline day.
Nunes joined Wolves from Sporting Club De Portugal last year and clearly impressed Pep Guardiola enough in his first season in the Premier League for Man City to pay the cash.
O’Neil admitted on TalkSPORT that, while Nunes’ tactics in attempting to force the move were not ideal for Wolves, he appreciated the midfielder’s abilities.
“It’s difficult for me to discuss it right now because Matheus is obviously at Manchester City.” I won’t go into too much into on Manchester City’s players. “That is not how I would have handled it,” he explained.
“I know players nowadays have a lot of people guiding them on how to accomplish things the best way possible. We were always very clear about how the process would work as a club. Matheus had been appraised. We also needed to try and put everything in place so that we could replace him within the next few days.
“We were always going to give Matheus our blessing and allow him to move on if the offer we received got to the level we were happy with.”
“However, the player’s behavior in that situation makes no difference.” It has no effect on the pricing or our willingness to do or not do something.
“There are a lot of factors that go into a player changing clubs, especially at that time of year.” It’s not how I would have done it.
“However, before that time with Matheus.” A gifted young man. He’s a terrific kid who works his tail off for us every day. “I hope the move goes well for him.”
Unfulfilled potential?
It may be argued that, while he did well overall at Wolves, Nunes did not perform to his full potential as witnessed at Sporting, and that the transfer to Man City will help him achieve a higher level.
Although he was outstanding at times, Nunes did have a few dips in form, but playing under Pep Guardiola in a stable club should allow him to play to his full potential.
Nunes is capable of playing as a deep midfielder as well as farther forward, and it will be intriguing to see what role Guardiola has planned for him now that Ilkay Gundogan has left the middle.
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