The Athletic’s Wolverhampton Wanderers correspondent Tim Spiers has recently discussed the lack of game time Portuguese loanee Vitinha is getting.
During the recent transfer window, the Old Gold sealed the arrival of the 20-year-old midfielder on a season-long loan from Liga NOS side FC Porto (per BBC).
In their loan deal for Vitinha, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side has the option to make the deal a permanent transfer.
However, since his arrival at Molineux in early September, the £4.5m-rated man has only made three appearances for Wolves and not been included in the squads for the recent games against Leeds United and Newcastle United (per Transfermarkt).
So, in the latest episode of The Athletic’s The Molineux View podcast, Spiers discussed Vitinha and his lack of game time for the Old Gold.
He said: “[Vitinha] hasn’t made the squad and Nuno was asked about it after the game [on Sunday] and just said, ‘We’ve got different options.’
“So yeah, that’s a confusing one to me. I’m assuming Nuno thinks he’s not ready – he’s not injured.
“He’s the kind of player you’d expect to see involved a bit more as Nuno does change the style and we can’t forget, they are still a counter-attacking team – that’s what they’re best at.
“He wants to evolve them into a team that dominates games with possession, etcetera. As we’ve said repeatedly, that’s not going to happen overnight.”
TIF Thoughts on what Tim Spiers had to say about Vitinha…
As can be seen in what Spiers said about Vitinha, he believes that the Portuguese midfielder may be utilised more as Nuno Santo changes the style which the Old Gold play.
Would you like to see Vitinha playing for Wolves more often?
No, he's not good enough
Yes, he needs a chance
However, in his two substitute appearances in the Premier League so far this term, the 20-year-old middleman has earned a weak 6.26/10 average rating (per WhoScored).
So, hopefully, for the player and for Wolves, Vitinha can deliver better performances when he begins to get more game time.