Wolves' big plans fire up ambitious Ruben Neves
Wolves star Ruben Neves says the club’s lofty ambitions have ‘always motivated’ him and been key to him staying at Molineux.
Neves, signed from Porto in the summer of 2017, is nearing the end of his fourth season with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
In that time, he has helped Wolves to the Championship crown, two seventh-placed finishes in the Premier League and runs to the FA Cup semi-finals and Europa League quarter-finals.
This season has proven more testing, but the ‘project’ which Neves felt on his first day remains the same and is why he has enjoyed such a long spell compared to modern standards.
“That’s true. In the times we have today, it’s not common,” the midfielder told the Express & Star.
“You have reasons for that, but when a player feels comfortable where he is and the project of the club is good like ours, it’s always easier to stay for a longer time.
“I felt that when I came for the first time, the project the club had and the ambition the club had.
“The goals they want to achieve has always motivated me to stay and help the club to achieve that.
“That’s the main reason I’ve been here for that long, because the club have always showed us how they want to improve and grow.
“So, we’re always motivated to play here.”
Currently serving as vice-captain, Neves has been a big presence at Wolves.
He has made 168 appearances for the club in total, scoring 20 goals.
The midfielder is currently away with Portugal and helped them to a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Wednesday night.
He then hopes to return and help Wolves have a strong end to the campaign – now sitting 13th with nine games left.
On the remit for the rest of the term, Neves added: “It’s a hard question for the moment because it’s not been an easy season.
“I know you don’t want me to say it, but we have to take it game by game,
“We were in trouble, to be honest with you. Everyone knows we were in trouble a few games ago.
“So, let’s keep going and improving game by game. Then, at the end, we’ll see where we are.
“We are not in our best form yet, but we’ll get there because we’re working hard for that. I’m confident for the rest of the season.”
