Many Wolves fans hold a special place in their heart for Ruben Neves.
The Portuguese midfielder left Molineux last year after a six-year spell at the club to join Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal.
there had been lots of speculation about Neves’ future leading up to that transfer window, and most had expected him to make a move to a Champions League club.
For quite a long time, Barcelona were linked with Neves. Arsenal were also apparently interested.
But Wolves opted to sell Neves to Al-Hilal, receiving a £47 million fee. This sale helped Wolves significantly as they sought to turn a big profit in order to comply with PSR.
Neves received criticism for making a move to Saudi. But so far, it’s gone quite well for him.
Ruben Neves remains involved with Portugal despite leaving Wolves for Saudi
Many people slammed Neves for heading to Saudi Arabia.
He was the first high-profile player in his prime to make the move to the SPL, and his exit prompted a few in the media to criticise him.
Pundit Ally McCoist wasn’t happy with Neves moving to Saudi, accusing him of lacking ambition.
Peter Crouch also questioned Neves’ motives, believing he was too young to be making such a move.
But some also defended him. Molineux legend Steve Bull suggested Neves had earned the right to do whatever he wanted.
One of the biggest talking points of Neves making his move to Al-Hilal at the time was whether he would be jeopardising his chances of playing for Portugal.
But that has really not been the case.
Since leaving Wolves on June 23, Neves has made 12 appearances for the national team, for a total of 511 minutes. He has only not been in the squad for three matches.
That is not bad at all, considering the strength in depth Portugal have in midfield.
Neves was superb in Potrtugal’s latest Nations League match against
Neves took a risk, but it’s paying off
Neves’ move to Al-Hilal happened quite quickly in the end.
Seemingly, the Saudi club came in out of nowhere with a big offer and Wolves – under big financial pressure to sell players – were more than happy to do business.
Neves bid an emotional farewell to Wolves fans in a video, and you could see that he was genuinely pained to leave. It was very much a case of him doing what he had to do.
The money he’s earning in Saudi is absolutely huge and he simply could not pass the opportunity up.
Neves – previously hailed as ‘brilliant’ by Max Kilman – will have known that there was potential for him to stop getting picked for Portugal.
We saw recently how Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman stopped selecting Steven Bergwijn because he had joined Al-Attihad.
But Neves has been playing well in Saudi, scoring seven goals and making 15 assists in 57 appearances.
Luckily for him, Roberto Martinez reacted positively to Neves’ move to Saudi, and it has seemed that the door has always been open for him so long as he’s played well.
He’s helped Al-Hilal win four trophies since his arrival, including the league in 2023/24.
Certainly, Neves has proved some of the doubters wrong.
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