Big interview: Adama Traore’s trust in Nuno paying off for Wolves

But Wolves’ great entertainer Adama Traore is not getting carried away – not for a single second, writes Joe Edwards.

Sitting down at Compton with his chest puffed out, training gear on and telling us about the six different languages he can speak – Spanish, Catalan, Bambara (the national language of Mali), French, Portuguese and, of course, English – the 23-year-old is a confident character.

Confident, but not an ounce of arrogance.

As the kind words from the wider footballing world continue to flood in, Traore is firmly focused on knuckling down and putting more work in.

But, why have things gone so well for him in gold and black over the past few months?

After a difficult first season at Molineux which included just one goal, the onus was on the speedster to push on – and, blimey, he has knocked it out of the park.

And Traore insists the progress is down to intensive work with Wolves chief Nuno Espirito Santo. It is all been about making the former Barcelona man more versatile, efficient and effective.

“With me, he’s been working on tactics,” said Traore, offering an insight into how a close relationship between a player and manager can bring a lot of success.

“He has been pushing me into different positions, demanding different things.

“He has shown me when to show my quality – when is the moment to show my quality.

“But, you can defend also, like a wing-back, or play inside like a striker, or on the left or the right as a winger.

“This is it. Different positions demand different things. This has made me see things in different ways. It makes me grow as a player.

“I’ve been working so hard on this with Nuno, and also the end (product).

“He’s been doing that with me, so we keep working. Like I’ve said before, I trust his process, and I will keep working.”

Traore’s improvement in the final third has been there for all to see.

Four goals have come in the league – three against Manchester City, one against Tottenham.

He has also laid on four assists in the top flight.

Traore has spoken previously about how Tony Pulis made him a better player at Middlesbrough.

A key part of that was trust between the two, and the Spaniard insists that is something Nuno had in him from the moment he arrived – and it has never wavered.

“For sure, since minute one. He said to me to trust the process, and that if I work hard with everyone, we’ll get where we want to get,” said Traore. “I did trust the process, and I trust him – 100 per cent. When he pushed me to play wing-back, I trusted him.

“If it was another player, one that has never played wing-back, he might say ‘I’ve never played there, why are you putting me there?’

“But I trust his process, so I said ‘OK’. That was the moment to play wing-back, so I worked hard and I’m happy.”

Putting Traore as a wing-back proved a masterstroke from Nuno.

Not that he had a long spell playing there – after all, Matt Doherty regained his place soon enough – but it made the Spaniard a more rounded player, ready to wreak havoc when back up the top end of the pitch.

That was evident at Manchester City, when Traore marked Raheem Sterling tightly at wing-back before moving up into attack and coming up with both goals in an unforgettable victory.

So, would it be fair to say Nuno spotted qualities in him other managers had not seen – and attributes he did not even know he had?

“Yes. And it is what the team needed at that moment, a wing-back,” said Traore.

“He said ‘I think Adama can do it’, and we worked on the defensive moments – when I have to close down, when I have to cover for the centre-back or the midfielder, when I have to go forward, when I have to go back. It’s all these things.

“He helped me to do it, to be a better player. For me, it’s very important to play in different positions. If I can play wing-back one moment, and then the team need a striker, it’s very important.

“It’s better to be able to do different things, in different moments.

“It makes you difficult to defend against as well, working with him.”

Another marker of the immense strides Traore has made is the rough treatment he has been receiving from defenders in the Premier League.

An incredible 26 different players have been booked for fouls on him.

Traore, though, has never complained or asked the referee to caution someone, and he said: “The referee is there. So, for me, the best thing to do is keep playing, isn’t it?

“If they make a foul close to their goal, it’s a chance for us.

“I take it like this, and that’s it, because the referee will know if it’s a foul.

“Most of the time I’m not going down – even when they kick me. So when I go down, the referee knows it’s because they kicked me badly. I don’t have to be stressed. For me, it’s no problem.

“If you kick me now, I’ll have another chance.”

Besides, most players tend to apologise after taking Traore down.

“Most people say sorry, that is true, so I say ‘It’s OK’,” he added.

When Traore has not been kicked to the ground, he has been flying past full-backs relentlessly.

He broke a league record at Watford on New Year’s Day by completing 15 take-ons.

Wolves, though, lost 2-1 and Traore said: “I can pass the full-back five or six times, but we might lose 1-0. But maybe I don’t pass the full-back, and we win.

“The important thing is the mentality. If I pass the full-back, I try to create the best chance for the team to score.”

Traore knows a good manager when he sees one. He worked under Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique at Barca – and says Nuno is at that elite level, too.

“Yes, for sure. He’s that level of coach, for sure,” said Traore “He’s a fantastic manager, tactically very good.

“He knows what he’s doing with the players. I think he is very good – and the staff he has picked up as well.

“This kind of thing is difficult to find. It’s very good.”

Hard-working Traore does not think of himself as being top class yet, though.

“I can give more. More assists, more goals, more chances,” he said. “Simple decisions, when I’m going with the ball and can give more things to the team. I can do more in the final end.

“I’ve been working on this. If you see the goals, I’m not totally wide. I’m inside. I’ve been working with Nuno on different things. Most of the time, my game is going inside of the defender, in the box.

“So if I can not go inside and shoot outside, my mentality is to create more different situations.”

Traore is one of the most humble footballers you could come across.

Will he at least admit this season has been the best of his career? Well, no, he flat-out refuses to rest on his laurels.

“I think if I said it is the best season of my career, I would be lying – as I always think I can do more,” declared Traore.