Shropshire Star

Steve Bull: I would love to see new Joao Moutinho Wolves deal

Joao Moutinho is technically no longer a Wolves player, but as talks continue over a new deal I would love to see him extend his stay at Molineux.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Joao Moutinho

With it looking more likely that Ruben Neves is not going, Moutinho is his right arm and they should push the boat out to keep him – whether that’s for one or two years.

Even if there is an opportunity for him to become a coach after, he is such a big influence and Wolves should keep him. Him and Neves work so well together, so why split them up?

Teams have been interested in Neves but the price range may have stopped it going any further. He is a world-class player and for me he is definitely worth around £75million and is not overpriced.

I hope he stays, he is a massive asset to the club. We need players to stay at the moment rather than go, including Moutinho.

The veteran midfielder adds stability, class, quality and experience into the side. He’s got a lot going for him.

He may be turning 36 in September but he still has fresh legs in him and he can still go for at least another 12 months.

Alongside Neves, the pair of them have to be in the conversation as some of the best midfielders to ever play for Wolves.

Players come and go but some stick in your mind and these two are world-class players at our club.

Do not underestimate how important Moutinho’s experience is too, you need those kind of players in your squad. Some players can sometimes run around like headless chickens and Moutinho’s experience keeps them calm. We have some very young and skilful players who need time to develop, so we need experience in the side as much as youth. That youth gets you so far but you need experience to steady the ship.

Meantime in the transfer market, Wolves always seem to be the last team to buy players!

There are players out there that we need and other clubs are buying them, so we need to pull our finger out and add to the squad to push on and stay in the top half of the table.