18 March 2023 , 22:30
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Wolves are resigned to losing £50million-rated midfield star Ruben Neves this summer.
The 26-year-old will enter the final year of his contract in July and the club are yet to agree terms with him on a new one. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool are known admirers of the Portuguese. Wolves will reluctantly listen to offers, although they would much rather sell him to a club abroad than to one of their Premier League rivals.
There was an expectancy at Molineux that Neves would leave last summer so Wolves were delighted when he didn’t. The two parties have an excellent relationship, meaning when no switch materialised there were no issues from either side.
That would be the case again this summer and Neves would likely pen a contract extension if he were still at the club in September, when the summer transfer window has closed, to protect the West Midlands outfit against losing him for nothing the following June.
Neves, who has won 37 caps for Portugal, joined Wolves in 2017, following his former Porto manager Nuno Espirito Santo to the club. He slotted straight in and was the star man as the club were promoted to the Premier League as champions at the end of his first campaign.
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Since then, he has proved himself to be a top Premier League talent and his performances over these past five-and-a-half years have garnered attention from some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Meanwhile, Julen Lopetegui has urged Wolves to stay focused during their scrap for survival. They face four of their relegation rivals across their final 10 matches. Wolves go to Nottingham Forest after the international break and also face Leicester, Everton and Crystal Palace.
Ruben Neves is wanted by Liverpool, Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona (Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)"My point of view is it is a lot of good teams fighting with the same aim so we have to be ready to be able to continue in the race, to have the best mentality, with the best way to play," said manager Lopetegui.
"Above all, putting the focus in our players and our team and to be able to improve. Each match is going to be very important and a chance to achieve three points. It's difficult because all teams are going to be ready."
The Spaniard added: "The last match ( Newcastle ) is so far away, the most important match in front of us is very close."