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Wolves: Seb Stafford-Bloor suggests that Ruben Neves should leave the club

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Image for Wolves: Seb Stafford-Bloor suggests that Ruben Neves should leave the club

Journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor has suggested that Ruben Neves should leave Wolverhampton Wanderers in the not-too-distant future.

Back in the summer of 2017, the Old Gold forked out a Championship-record fee to seal the arrival of the Portuguese midfielder from FC Porto (per BBC).

Since then, he has gone on to make 157 appearances for the Molineux outfit, in which he has bagged 17 goals and provided nine assists (per Transfermarkt).

With a current market value standing at a whopping £45m according to Transfermarkt, his existing deal with Wolves runs until the summer of 2023.

However, during the latest episode of the Tifo Football Podcast, Stafford-Bloor discussed the midfielder at length and claimed that he should leave the Old Gold in the not-too-distant future.

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To kick off this quiz on Romain Saiss, what squad number does the defensive midfielder currently wear for the Old Gold?

He said: “I don’t know what Wolves need, it feels like a stagnation because it feels like [Neves] has been there for longer than probably anyone imagined that he would be.

“There’s coming a point where, whether Wolves want to or not, they’re going to have to reinvent their midfield.

“Neves, I think he came to Molineux because he could progress into English football and for many years, he did. Now, I don’t know.

“He’s always been a slightly less aggressive player than people have assumed. People focus on the long-range shooting and the occasional Hollywood pass, but that’s not necessarily what he does well all the time.

“You wonder whether now’s the time for Jorge Mendes to look at the market and think, ‘I need to put him somewhere else,’ and also, obviously, selling him would raise the kind of fees needed to lead a reinvention at Wolves.

“I just feel like they aren’t benefitting from each other as much as they were, if that makes sense.”

TIF Thoughts on what Seb Stafford-Bloor said about Ruben Neves…

As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he believes that it may be time for Neves to move on from Wolves because he needs pastures new and the club needs to “reinvent” its midfield.

Would you be open to Wolves selling Ruben Neves next summer?

No, he needs to stay

No, he needs to stay

Yes, he should go

Yes, he should go

During his first season in the Premier League, Neves picked up a solid 6.86/10 average rating for the Old Gold over 35 top-flight appearances (per WhoScored).

Last season, that average rating dropped marginally to a 6.82/10 over 38 league outings and this term, it has fallen further to a 6.76/10 in 19 games.

So, perhaps Stafford-Bloor was correct to suggest that the Portuguese midfielder is stagnating over time at Wolves and a departure could be best for both parties.

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