Nuno has mixed emotions over his jet-set Wolves stars
Nuno Espirito Santo admits he has mixed emotions as the vast majority of his Wolves squad are set to head out for international duty again.
Nuno’s pack are hoping to make it five games unbeaten in the Premier League at Leicester on Sunday.
After that though, all but a handful of his squad will go away with their countries amid a new protocol – players only able to train again with their clubs once negative for Covid-19 via the league’s testing regime, instead of after being cleared by their countries.
And when asked if having so many internationals makes him proud or worried, Nuno said: “It’s both.
“It’s the joy of having so many players being called by their national teams as it’s huge for them and huge for us a club.
“At the same time, it’s a worrying moment due to the situation we are living in.
“Living in a pandemic, your players go away to a different environment. You lose control of them.
“Then you have to deal with the protocol when the players are coming back with testing. But some players come on a Tuesday, another on Wednesday, another on Thursday.
“If they cannot train before they are tested, how are we going to do that? So it’s a question to the Premier League.
“Those that are staying here, we have to work and make every moment useful for us. It’s not holidays. Those who are going away are going to competitive environments, so we have to try to do the same here.”
Skipper Conor Coady will represent England again, winger Adama Traore will be with Spain while five players will be away with Portugal – and that is only scratching the surface.
“I watch the games with confidence, because a player goes well prepared and we trust the national team staff to manage them well,” said Nuno.
“Respecting the players is what national team staff should do, so they can deal better with the huge challenge of the schedule we have.
But he added: “It doesn’t make too much sense. For the clubs, it’s no good.”
Meanwhile, Wolves are understood to be relaxed on reports suggesting new Fifa agent regulations could highlight a conflict of interest between the club and Jorge Mendes.
It has been said Mendes will have to prove his work does not fall foul of proposed rules that will outlaw conflicts of interest, such as club owners having stakes in player agencies.
Wolves owners Fosun have been reported to hold a stake in Mendes’ Gestifute firm via a subsidiary, which would be breaching the new rules.
Football’s world governing body have said that fans will be able to see how much agents earn from transfer deals when the regulations come into force next year.
They will include a licensing system, character tests, commission caps and the publication by Fifa of the money agents get from their clients – both players and clubs. Agents will be consulted between now and the spring of 2021.
The regulations will then go forward for Fifa council approval between March and June next year before being implemented in September.
