Wolves star Pedro Neto wants to keep raising his own bar
Star performer Pedro Neto says he wants every season with Wolves to be considered a breakthrough one for him.
The 21-year-old Portuguese winger has earned plaudits from far and wide thanks to his high-quality displays for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in 2020/21.
He is the joint top scorer and outright top provider of goals – five of both – for Wolves, which has led to many considering this to be his breakout campaign.
But while delighted with the praise he has been receiving, Neto’s aim is to continue being held in such high regard by Wolves fans.
“I hope so, but I want to do better than this, always to do better,” he said, on if this is his breakthrough year. “I always want to be the best. I hope all the seasons that I’m here to be the breakthrough.
“I always want to improve, to do better, so I can always be recognised for these fans, for this club. I hope to continue with that.”
Neto is in the conversation for the Premier League’s young player of the season, with him being mentioned alongside Manchester City’s Phil Foden and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as a contender for the gong.
His magical solo strike at Southampton is very likely to be reflected upon as Wolves’ goal of the season as well.
But Neto – currently away on international duty with Portugal for their World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg – is refusing to rest on his laurels.
Nuno recently said he still sees big room for improvement for him, and the entertaining former Lazio attacker agrees with his manager.
“Sometimes I’m being hard to myself, because I know a lot of people my age would like to be where I am,” said Neto. “But for me, I always want to do better. Sometimes I don’t see where I am at 21 years old, but I always want better.
“I want to improve, so I’ll continue so to achieve more things.”
Neto, meanwhile, is excited by the prospect of Raul Jimenez being back in action for Wolves before the end of the term.
The Mexican striker yesterday joined up with his national team, purely to train with them ahead of their game against Wales in Cardiff.
His recovery from a fractured skull has been going very well and he is expected to play a part over the next couple of months.
And Neto said on Jimenez: “Raul is an unbelievable player.
“It’s true that maybe in the beginning when he was hot, he can score a lot of goals and I miss him in the box, of course.
“Now we have Fabio (Silva) and Willian (Jose) who are doing a great job too.
“But, of course, I miss Raul because he’s an unbelievable player.
“What can I say? I have no words to describe his game because he gives us a lot.”
The pair could well be in competition to claim Wolves’ top scorer award for the season as Jimenez, while he has been out since November, is only one behind Neto with four goals – while midfielder Ruben Neves has five to his name.
Neto hopes to build on the promising partnership as well, insisting Jimenez fully understands his game.
He added: “I hope to play with him because I enjoy to play with him.
“Even last season when we played together, this season too, I feel a lot of connection with him.
“When he plays he understands my game too, so it’s a player that I miss on the pitch and I hope that he comes back fast.”
