Opinion: Wolves’ “exciting” £130k a week player was Neto 2.0 when he signed, but later cost £4m a goal

Wolves’ “exciting” £130k a week player was Neto 2.0 when he signed, but later cost £4m a goal

Over the years, Wolves has seen some excellent talent take the stage at Molineux, but it hasn’t always gone well for some newcomers.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have had a plethora of talent grace the pitch at Molineux throughout the years, with the majority of the talent hailing from Portugal.

Former coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s excellent rapport with renowned player agency Jorge Mendes paved the way for an infusion of stars from the region to prove their value in England.

Nuno enjoyed some of his best management years in Wolverhampton, heading a squad stocked with Portuguese players and aspirations from Ruben Neves to Rui Patricio, with the tradition continuing even after his left.

In 2021, fellow countryman Bruno Lage took over from the now-Al-Ittihad manager, ensuring that both established and developing players could be welcomed to the Midlands.

While some players have been valuable assets to Wolves, others have struggled to integrate and settle in, with one of Lage’s signings offering the wow factor when he came but failing to live up to such expectations.

When was Francisco Trincao signed by the Wolves?

Wolves confirmed in the summer of 2021 that they had agreed to recruit Barcelona starlet Francisco Trincao on a season loan, with a “non-compulsory obligation to buy” clause.

The 21-year-old arrives after making 42 appearances for the Catalan giants in the 2020/21 season, scoring three goals and recording two assists, with all of his goal contributions coming in La Liga.

The striker, who can play as a right or left winger, was signed by the Catalan club from his boyhood club SC Braga in 2020, and with his future at Camp Nou looking bleak, the moment was ripe for the winger to take a step back and join Wolves.

How did people react when Wolves signed Francisco Trincao?

Former technical director Scott Sellars described the Midlands club’s new signing as a “really exciting player” at the time of his arrival, which was a reasonable analogy for a player who had performed so well in both Spain and Portugal.

Trincao had a hand in 20 goals in 38 appearances for Braga as a teen during the 2019/20 season, scoring eight and assisting 12, demonstrating his importance in the final third.

Stop that, Francisco Trincão 🤩 🔥

A superb goal from the 23-year-old to give Sporting a 2-0 lead against Estoril.#SCPpic.twitter.com/amddO9OGCY

— Próxima Jornada (@ProximaJornada1) February 27, 2023

The 21-year-old arrived at the best time for Wolves, as The Athletic noted that summer in reference to the absence of fellow wideman Pedro Neto, who had suffered a broken patella and was likely to miss a lengthy period of time.

Not only were all signals pointing to the Braga academy graduate filling in for Neto, but it was also made obvious how close his playing style was to Neto’s, with hints that he could even outperform the Wolves whiz.

According to The Athletic, former Braga assistant manager Vitor Castanheira discussed Trincao, a player he knew from a young age because of his role in directing emerging talent throughout the club.

Castanheira praised the 21-year-old, saying he is “even more mentally strong than Neto,” with whom he spent most of his childhood growing up in the same region of Portugal.

The former Braga coach implied Trincao could be better than Neto by saying:

“If I had to compare, Neto is more vertical and goal-oriented. Trincao can do that, but you won’t simply watch him make good dribbles; he’ll also think of lines of passes that aren’t obvious. He’ll get goals. He’s a complete offensive player.”

If his contributions to goals and role at Barcelona didn’t sell his talents, Castanheira did, giving people at Molineux an idea of the type of player the Old Gold were getting in the teenager.

The stage was set for the Barcelona loanee to shine in Neto’s absence, with the ultimate goal of Wolves getting the teenager on a permanent basis, but things didn’t quite go as planned.

What was Francisco Trincao’s performance like at Wolves?

Trincao made 30 appearances for the Old Gold in the 2021/22 season, scoring three times and earning one assist in what was a very drab introduction to his skills in the Premier League.

To the now-23-year-old’s defense, his talents were maybe underutilized by Lage, who failed to establish balance in the squad’s attacking dynamic, which hampered the winger’s overall experience.

Trincao's first training goal…

🇵🇹⚽️ pic.twitter.com/UzlrBc9yN1

— Wolves (@Wolves) July 13, 2021

Due to his lackluster performance in Wolverhampton, the Old Gold chose to pay Barcelona to bring the winger back after deciding not to seek a permanent deal based on his season-long cameo.

The Midlands club paid La Blaugrana €6 million (£5.1 million) as an agreed loan price if the Premier League club did not buy the youngster, with a 20% release clause in place if the La Liga club sold him in the future.

What did the Wolves pay for Francisco Trincao?

From the minute he arrived, the Portugal international became Wolves’ highest-earner, as the club agreed to pay him £130k a week, making him more than Raul Jimenez and Joao Moutinho at the time.

Paying his salaries for a year cost £6.8 million, bringing the total cost of keeping him at the club to nearly £12 million when the loan fee paid on his return to Catalonia is factored in.

The nearly £12 million squandered to try the Portuguese at Molineux calculated that the club paid him around £4 million each goal, underscoring the failure of the agreement that was sold to have so much potential.

What is Francisco Trincao up to these days?

While his numbers were below-par at Wolves, Trincao was simply not used as successfully as Lage intended, as evidenced by the improvement in his play when he departed the club.

When he returned to Barcelona, the winger was loaned out to Sporting CP, where he has since signed on a permanent basis.

When his statistics per game from the 2021/22 Premier League season and the 2022/23 Liga Portugal season are compared, the areas that the 23-year-old was lacking in England become increasingly clear, as illustrated in the table above.

The 1999-born whiz has made six Liga Portugal appearances for Sporting so far this season, but has failed to contribute among the goals after netting ten in the league in 2022/23.

From having the potential to rival Neto to being paid to go, Trincao did not live up to expectations at Molineux, but the deal will not be viewed negatively because Wolves continue to admire Neto, and Trincao is once again enjoying his game.