Journalist Alex Crook has claimed that Ruben Neves will probably leave Wolverhampton Wanderers in the upcoming transfer window.
There have been recent reports that Barcelona have edged closer in terms of bringing Neves to the club in the summer and away from Wolves. However, the West Midlands club are attempting to keep him at Molineux by offering him a new deal.
Neves has been a mainstay in the Wolves side since signing for the club in 2017 from FC Porto, making 221 appearances in all competitions across five seasons.
Whilst speaking with GiveMeSport, Crook claimed that Wolves may need to generate their own income, which could lead to them letting Neves leave the club in the summer.
He said: “I think the owners want them to be self-sufficient and generate their own income. The only way they can really do that is by selling the family silver, if you like, so I think Neves will probably go.”
TIF Thoughts on Crook’s comments…
Neves has dominated the stats this season for Wolves, as he had the highest average player rating at the club (7.11), the highest amount of accurate passes on average per game (49.1) and he had the joint second-most goal contributions (6), as per SofaScore.
With Wolves not achieving any European football ahead of next season, this could be a big deciding factor for the Portuguese midfielder in terms of his future, as he has had interest from more successful clubs such as Barcelona, who will be playing in the Champions League next year.
To lose such a big player who has dominated the stats would be a massive disappointment for Bruno Lage, but with Crook claiming that they will have to generate their own funds, they would at least be able to use the money they receive for him to invest in the rest of the squad and push for a European place next season.