Julen Lopetegui: Wolves star Ruben Neves will be here for the season

The captain has been Wolves’ star player in a poor campaign for the club and he has been linked with a move away in January.

Now, the new head coach says he expects the midfielder to stay for the rest of the season, but was not able to rule out a move in the summer when Neves will have just one year left on his deal.

Lopetegui said: “His commitment with Wolves is 100 per cent, I feel that when I saw him play in the last matches. I’m sure he is here for the rest of the season.

“I don’t know what is going to happen in June, it’s so far, but the future of Ruben Neves is showing the rest of his team-mates he is a leader here. He is the captain and playing in the best way and the best version for the rest oft he season, this is his aim.

“He is an important part of the team but he is part. All the players are part of the team and all of the players are nothing without the team.”

Lopetegui gave Neves his senior debut at Porto when he was just 17 years old, and the midfielder himself describes the head coach as ‘special’.

When asked how Neves has changed since his debut as a teenager, Lopetegui added: “He has improved a lot. We felt he was a different (special) player when I knew him in 2015. The rest is his daily work.

“He is very professional, very ambitious, very balanced in his mind – that is very important in football. He is our player, we are very happy to have him and he is still young.

When asked if he was surprised to see Neves move to Wolves, Lopetegui said: “It was not a surprise for me because I picked him to play in the Champions League aged 17. I trust in him. But the rest of course, you can’t see the future. It depends on the personality, the family, the girlfriend. He has gone the right way.

“He is a very good professional and this is necessary if you want to do well in this profession.”