WOLVES fans believe they have landed a midfield Superman after splashing a club-record £42.2million for Matheus Nunes.
They might have a point as Bruno Lage revealed the Rio-born Portugal star will wear the SAME PANTS for the next few weeks.
But hopefully not on the outside of his shorts!
Nunes was regarded as one of the hottest young talents in Europe at Sporting Lisbon.
Asked how he was settling in, Wolves boss Lage laughed: “He just arrived two days ago and yesterday he asked ‘Can I have a couple of days to go home and bring my clothes, I don’t have anything to wear?’
“I told him ‘no, you have to wear the same underwear for three or four weeks, we don’t have three or four days!’
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“These are the kind of things he has to adapt to.
“He’s living in a hotel. He doesn’t have a car yet. Even when he does, he has to learn to drive on the other side.
“The most important thing is for him to feel comfortable right now because we bought him for the long term and can’t put him under too much pressure.”
Nunes will not start at Tottenham in today’s lunchtime kick-off and Lage added: “If he jumps off the bench to play 15 minutes, I don’t expect him to score three goals.
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“I want him to start with confidence, get to know his team and then play to the level he achieved at Sporting.”
It remains to be seen whether 23-year-old Nunes decides to wear his briefs over his shorts at Spurs or fall into line with his new team-mates.
But when Pep Guardiola says “Matheus Nunes is one of the best players in the world today,” you can pretty much get away with anything.
The 23-year-old who left Brazil for Portugal with mum Catia when he was 13 was still sweating it out, making 5am starts in her small bakery only a few years ago.
But things changed when Manchester City spanked Sporting 5-0 in a Champions League qualifier last February and City boss Guardiola gave Nunes his stellar seal of approval.
Lage said: “At that moment I was upset with Pep. Because when Pep Guardiola makes a statement like that the value of the player goes up and I need to pay £10m more!”
Nunes might have gone to City but they opted for Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips.
Likewise Spurs had a look but reasoned Brighton’s Yves Bissouma was oven-ready for the Prem.
So Wolves landed Nunes, who was also linked with Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, Everton and West Ham.
Lage added: “It’s not always about the money or the club. It’s about the project.
“I could see the kind of player he is when he played against Benfica and Man City.
“We sensed we had a chance to sign him and I put pressure on everyone to bring him here.
“It’s time to give big credit to our chairman Jeff Shi who is doing a fantastic job to bring in this level of player.
“The fans are excited and their mood has changed.”
There is a lot to get excited about. At 6ft tall, Nunes towers above his Portugal team-mates Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho and adds another dimension to Wolves’ midfield.
While they ping the ball all over the pitch, Nunes loves to dribble and has the ability to turn defence into attack with surging runs.
He is an accomplished box-to-box midfielder who thrives in the battleground, had more touches last season than any of his Sporting team-mates and won most duels.
Defensively sound, Nunes is capable of killer passes and has the ability to pick Prem defensive locks yet will run miles in support of his forwards.
In short, he is a master of all the midfield arts.
And if he proves himself in England, Wolves could easily double their money on a player who cost Sporting a bargain £500,000 when they signed him from Estoril in 2018-19.
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There have been comparisons to Xavi and Andres Iniesta, while Portugal won a tug-of-war to beat Brazil to parade his talent on the international stage.
Nunes did spend a week on trial at Leicester in 2016 after video evidence of him playing for Ericeirense, his local team.
He slipped through their fingers at roughly the same time Foxes had hands on the Premier League trophy.
Lille, Braga and Benfica also took a look before moving on.
In the end Estoril gave him a chance and, before long, Sporting moved in. He played a part in Lisbon’s 2021 title success before really coming into his own last season.
Now it is the Premier League and time to fly.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
