Gary O’Neil and his Wolves side have had a tough start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, losing to Arsenal and Chelsea already, before getting a draw against Nottingham Forest to gain their first point of the season.
One area Wolves were looking to recruit over the summer was midfield, once dominated by a Portuguese trio of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Matheus Nunes. The central department at Molineux has certainly lost a lot of quality in the past few years.
Neves made 48 appearances for Al-Hilal last season in all competitions last season, scoring seven goals, and providing 12 assists in 4,073 minutes.
While Andre was signed from Brazilian shores, they must lust after the return of one player, in particular. That man is midfield sensation Vitinha.
Vitinha’s time at Wolves
Vitinha spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan with Wolves, making 22 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing one assist in his 711 minutes played. That sole goal – a long-range stunner – came against Chorley in the FA Cup.
The midfielder played alongside the likes of Neves and Moutinho under manager Nuno Espírito Santo, finishing 13th in the Premier League that season.
The Portugal international initially came through the ranks at Porto, making 59 appearances for their senior team either side of his loan to Wolves, before earning a move to PSG in 2022, joining the club for around €40m (£33.7m).
Since then, he’s certainly become a fine young talent, one that’s currently valued at £76m by the Parisiens.
Vitinha vs Neves comparison
Vitinha is now a key figure at PSG, making 46 appearances last season for the French giants in all competitions, scoring nine goals and providing five assists.
It’s safe to say he’s been pretty good. So good in fact that he’s incredibly among the Ballon d’Or nominees for 2024. That’s a far cry from that wintery night in Chorley, isn’t it?
Whilst Vitinha is now entering his prime years, his ex-colleague Neves is currently spending his final playing years in Saudi Arabia. The duo are playing at different levels, but Wolves could certainly do with the passing qualities of either one of these midfielders right now. Here’s how they compare…
Vitinha (23/24) vs Neves (22/23) comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (per 90 mins) | Vitinha | Neves |
Goals | 0.23 | 0.14 |
Assists | 0.13 | 0.02 |
Progressive Carries | 1.86 | 0.84 |
Progressive Passes | 7.84 | 6.51 |
Shots Total | 1.80 | 1.80 |
Key Passes | 1.66 | 0.96 |
Passes into Final Third | 7.10 | 6.03 |
Tackles | 1.60 | 2.36 |
Interceptions | 1.11 | 1.54 |
Stats taken from FBref | ||
Vitinha has really started to establish himself as one of the best passers in Europe, completing 7.84 progressive passes per 90, thus ranking within the top 7% of midfielders on the continent for that statistic.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Neves, in his final season at Wolves, averaged fewer progressive passes per 90 (6.51), fewer passes into the final third per 90 (6.03), and fewer key passes per 90 (0.96). Those are number which shows the level Vitinha is currently performing at in France.
An area Neves still outperformed the former loanee when comparing these two seasons is on the defensive end making more tackles and more interceptions per 90. To put those statistics into context, we can compare them to the current duo at Molineux.
Wolves’ midfield pairing consists of Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes, who are both brilliant players in their own right. However, Lemina is better known for his off-ball work, averaging 2.82 tackles per 90, whilst Gomes also offers similar assets going box to box, leaving them with a lack of passing quality in the middle.
Vitinha is the exact type of player Wolves could use in midfield to balance things, control games better, and bring their talented attackers such as Matheus Cunha into the game more.
