Pedro Neto has not kicked a competitive ball in anger for Wolves since April 9, 2021. He lasted 32 minutes that day against Fulham before being forced from the field with a knee problem that would keep him sidelined for the rest of a calendar year.
An untimely setback came just as the Portuguese was ticking nicely through the gears. Across nine outings immediately prior to being laid low, one goal and three assists had been recorded, leaving him on five and seven in those respective categories for the season.
There was serious buzz around a player of considerable promise, with a natural heir being found to departed countryman Diogo Jota. No longer was he being used as an impact option off the bench, a starting berth was well and truly being nailed down.
Plenty has changed since Neto’s last outing – on and off the field – but consistency has returned slowly to the ranks at Molineux. Markets related to football betting on Space Casino have Bruno Lage’s side at 6/1 for a top six finish, with a shot at European qualification now very much back on the agenda.
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— Pedro Neto (@pedrolneto7) November 11, 2021
Fresh faces acquired during the summer of 2021 have aided collective efforts, with more business completed during the winter window of 2022. Familiar faces, though, still have a prominent role to play.
Neto falls into that category and now has light at the end of what has been a long and very dark tunnel. A return to training has been taken in, with a recall to first team duty seemingly not too far away. When that day comes, he will be welcomed with open arms.
Impact
It would be asking a lot for a man who has spent several months on the treatment table to hit the ground running in 2021-22. Patience remains the order of the day and any unnecessary risks must be avoided with his short and long-term fitness.
Lage is in the fortunate position of having plenty of alternative options at his disposal – the likes of Adama Traore, Trincao, Daniel Podence and Hwang Hee-chan. Neto, though, has shown enough promise to suggest that he could be the best of the lot.
On the grass, back where he belongs ? pic.twitter.com/NM2Ijdn356
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 6, 2022
He also boasts an almost telepathic understanding with Raul Jimenez, and it is those qualities that Wolves supporters everywhere will be desperate to see again. The Mexican frontman only made his long-awaited return from serious injury in August 2021, with a favoured supply line cut off.
Neto had spoken excitedly a few weeks prior to suffering his own knock about the prospect of having Jimenez back alongside him. He said: “When he plays he understands my game, so it’s a player that I miss on the pitch.”
Nobody sent over more crosses for Wolves last season than Neto, with somebody required to get on the end of more of those. Jimenez, fresh from feeling his own way back into the fold, can be that man. That is an exciting prospect for a team that has been a little short on firepower, with true potential ready to be unlocked.
