Wolves' Joao Moutinho still proving to be pure football heaven

At the age of 35 Joao Moutinho is still going strong.

When he joined the club in the summer of 2018 the midfielder, who has now amassed 140 international caps for Portugal, was seen as a coup at just £5million.

That proved true, too, when he had a wonderful campaign in gold and black during his first season, with some labelling him as the most gifted player they have ever seen in a Wolves shirt.

To give Moutinho his credit, he has been a consistent performer for the club in the years that followed, but struggled last season in a year when the whole squad underperformed.

Heading into this season question marks were raised over his fitness and ability to get around the pitch – admittedly, this writer also had reservations.

But Moutinho has answered those critics already with some impressive performances.

Similar to Ruben Neves on the right of the two midfielders, Moutinho’s role under Bruno Lage has been streamlined on the left side.

No longer is he expected to be an all-action marauding general, instead he sticks narrowly to his side and creates a passing option for the left-wing-back and left-winger.

His pass accuracy is high and he neatly controls games, without doing anything spectacular. He goes under the radar and against Leeds he managed the game well after his early booking and ran himself into the ground.

He has things to work on, of course. His crossing accuracy on average last season was 24 per cent and so far this season is 38 per cent.

But in a squad that is thin on the ground overall, and in midfield, Moutinho has shown his worth.

He is out of contract in the summer but Lage is already an admirer of the experienced midfielder and when asked if he would like him to stay with the club, Lage said: “Of course, if I am very happy with him.

“I am very happy with Joao, in the same way I am very happy with Ruben and Leander.

“There is good competition between the three and they know every time they need to be in a good moment. If not, another guy goes in his place.

“The younger guys put a lot of pressure on Joao and he needs to be on top every day.

“This life happens so fast. They have 15 years for playing.

“So the best thing is not to plan too much ahead, but every day you give your best. In the end, when you look back, then you will not regret.

“For Joao it is the same, every day he comes and does his best and then after the club takes the best decision and he takes the best decision for him. From my point of view, the way he works every day, I am very happy with him.

“There’s two ways the players can play more, their behaviour outside to be healthy and take care in recovery, and the other is about the way you train.

“I see Joao every day training hard. If you have that rhythm, you continue with it. You need to work hard and then recover.

“One month ago it was his birthday and when I asked how old he was he said 28.

“We are very happy with him. The most important thing is not to look at his ID, but look at the way he works every day, and enjoy the moment every day.”

When asked if Lage had spoken to Moutinho about his future, the head coach added: “The last time I spoke with him, he wanted to be a manager in the future.

“I think he has four or five years to play and then a manager.

“I am very happy with him. The personality, the way he works, the way he wants to be in training and how he talks to other guys to understand better the way we play.

“He works hard every day. You need to enjoy every day and wait for what happens (next).”