£43m Wolves star could become Molineux's next version of Vitinha

Rob Edwards has allowed Wolverhampton Wanderers to believe across recent matches that they can pull off a daring great escape in the Premier League.

The Old Gold – who are stuck at the foot of the league – were once in danger of being relegated as the worst ever team to grace the promised land.

Now, some pride has at least been restored, with only one league defeat suffered across their last six matches, gifting them the faintest hopes of survival.

It’s still a considerable fall from grace, considering the West Midlands giants were competing in the Europa League quarter finals in 2020.

Wolves’ last five PL finishes
Season	Final position
20/21	13th
21/22	10th
22/23	13th
23/24	14th
24/25	16th

Six years later, Championship football is on the menu for a side that also once had Paris Saint-Germain superstar Vitinha on its books, who has come on leaps and bounds since a brief stay at Molineux.

Vitinha’s crazy rise after Wolves

Wolves have had several of their top talents go on to bigger and better things in the past few years, with Pedro Neto now on the roster of Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea, while Ruben Neves bagged himself a £300k-per-week deal at Al-Hilal, post-Wolves.

Vitinha has arguably had the craziest ascent, though, after failing to impress during a 22-game loan stint, which saw him only pick up a single goal and assist for his troubles.

Now, he’s considered the “best midfielder in the world” by Portugal boss Roberto Martinez, with audacious strikes – such as his effort put against Chelsea in the Champions League earlier in the month becoming commonplace.

Indeed, Vitinha has gone on to collect 26 goals and 24 assists for PSG from 194 appearances, with a Champions League trophy also being hoisted aloft since swapping Wolverhampton for Paris.

Noted as being worth an insane £114m in the winter transfer window, as the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool targeted him, Wolves must surely wonder what could have been with their former number 20, if he had sealed a permanent move to England.

Instead, he is forgotten about as ever donning a Wolves strip, next to his world-class heroics at the Parc Des Princes.

That said, Edwards could have his own Vitinha in the making right now, even with relegation on the verge of being confirmed.

Wolves’ next Vitinha

Of course, dropping down to the Championship for any club often means a mass exodus, as several players don’t want to rough it up in the hustle and bustle of the EFL.

Joao Gomes has a more compelling argument this season than others at Wolves as to why he would favour a prolonged stay in the Premier League over dropping to the second tier, with the “all-action” midfielder certainly living up to that billing handed to him by Como scout Ben Mattinson.

Picking up a goal and assist against Aston Villa and Brentford across recent matches, as his current employers have shown unexpected signs of life as of late, Gomes has also won an energetic 6.4 duels per Premier League contest this campaign.

To explain just how impressive that tally of duels is, it’s far more than one of the division’s form midfielders in the shape of Casemiro at Manchester United, who has won 5.2 duels per match in comparison.

On that evidence, it may not come as a surprise to learn that United have actually targeted Gomes as Casemiro’s replacement this summer, nor will it come as a surprise to hear many a pundit, including one-time Molineux midfielder Jamie O’Hara state back in January that “someone will take him” as he’s far too good for the Championship.

This would result in another heartbreaking loss for the Old Gold occurring, which mirrors Vitinha’s sudden exit to Paris, with a £43m price tag allegedly placed above the Rio De Janeiro-born warrior’s head.

If he can pull off such standout displays, as Wolves fight for Premier League status, the concern will be whether Gomes is only just getting started at Molineux, and that he could possibly hit Vitinha-level heights after his expected departure, joining a European heavyweight as the Portuguese did.

Thankfully, Wolves would actually be able to gain some money back if the popular number eight did leave, with Gomes going down as one of their more luxurious sales.

In the years to come, Wolves fans might well look back on having Gomes on their books with the same befuddlement as Vitinha, as he potentially establishes himself as a Premier League-calibre ace while the Old Gold attempt to bounce back, another star light.

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