Bruno Lage: Wolves will offer Ruben Neves a new deal

The Express & Star exclusively revealed last week that the club had entered talks with Neves, who will have two years left on his deal this summer.

Now, Lage has confirmed that Neves will receive a contract offer from Wolves as talks continue – but the head coach has followed technical director Scott Sellars in saying he expects some of Europe’s top clubs to be interested in the 25-year-old.

“I know he’s having a fantastic season,” said Lage.

“He’s back to what he did in the past, and that’s the kind of player we can have with us if we want to create a good team – a big player who can put us on a different level.

“But this is football and you never know. For sure he will receive a proposal from us but the way he plays I can see other teams are looking for him also.”

Neves has had a superb season so far but will now be sidelined until May with a medial collateral ligament injury in his knee.

Although Lage admits he will be a big loss in the coming weeks, the boss believes Neves could be crucial to Wolves building to bigger things next season.

He added: “What is important to say is that it’s very hard to find a player like him. We used to call it a defensive midfielder, but I prefer to call it a central midfielder – a guy who can defend and can attack.

“Sometimes you have a guy who can attack, sometimes you have a guy who can defend but he can do both things. He can score goals and do assists. It’s very hard to find.

“From my side, he knows my opinion – I want the best for his career. If he prefers to remain with us, for sure we will be happy and stronger. But this is football and you never know. When you see the way he’s playing and the challenge we gave him to be more consistent – he’s a big loss for us at the moment.

“You never know what can happen. There could be a big team with a big offer and we would need to analyse what is best for us and for the player.”

Meanwhile, Lage has welcomed the rule change that will see Premier League clubs awarded five substitutions from next season.

In a meeting between governing bodies and club representatives, it was agreed that starting in the 2022/23 campaign, Premier League sides can make five substitutions in a maximum of three occasions during a match.

Half-time is then included as an additional opportunity to make changes.

Some have criticised the move, claiming it benefits clubs with bigger squads who now have the chance to change almost half their team during a game, but Lage has welcomed the move.

Lage said: “I haven’t changed my opinion since I was at Benfica. When I was there I was of the opinion we could change five players in three breaks.

“Last week when they asked my opinion, I remained with that opinion.

“I agree with it. It’s not a problem for me and maybe this season it could have helped me a little bit because in 30 games I’ve needed to sub my right and left-backs 18 times.

“After that I just have two (substitutions) to manage the game.”