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Wolves: Jamie Carragher believes Pedro Neto could win Young Player of the Year

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Image for Wolves: Jamie Carragher believes Pedro Neto could win Young Player of the Year

Jamie Carragher believes Wolves’ Pedro Neto could claim this season’s Young Player of the Year award. 

The 21-year-old winger has become the main creative force for the Molineux outfit this season after Diogo Jota’s departure in the summer and appears to be thriving with the added responsibility.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have struggled to replicate their best form in the current campaign, largely due to the absence of star striker Raul Jimenez through injury, but Neto has continued to shine regardless.

The Portugal international has five goals and four assists in 29 Premier League appearances throughout 2020/21, and as heard on the Sky Sports Football Podcast, for Carragher, it’s enough to put the youngster in contention for the coveted Young Player of the Year prize.

He said: “I think he should be right in the running, and I’ve linked him, and we’ve looked at the stats comparing them to Phil Foden and [Bukayo] Saka of Arsenal. So, Foden’s 20 years of age, Saka’s 19, Pedro Neto has just turned 21, so you can see at the top, all three have played plenty of games this season.

“I think, when you just go down [the list], you see the actual importance of Pedro Neto to this Wolves team. The percentage of team goals and assists he’s involved in [36%] is vital to this team really.

“These are three of the real standouts for me, and I actually think the model of Wolves is buy young, up-and-coming players and eventually sell them on for big money, and I think he will be the next. He could be a superstar, Neto.”

TIF Thoughts on Neto…

Neto is enjoying a fabulous campaign for the Midlands side and has already been linked with a big-money move away over the summer.

If he carries on in the same vein for the remainder of the campaign and continues to add goals and assists to his game, then there’s no reason why the former Lazio man can’t join the illustrious list of previous winners and snatch the Young Player of the Year award away from the likes of Foden and Saka.

Past winners include Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas, so if Neto can add his name to that impressive collection, it would be a seriously impressive feat.

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