It wasn’t too long ago that calling Wolverhampton the ‘Lisbon of the north’ would be considered a criminal offence. But ever since Nuno Espírito Santo made his mark on the middle of England suburbia, between 2017 and 2021, the Portuguese manager has changed the perception of the West Midlands.
Bringing with him a surfeit of Portuguese talents to introduce to the Wolves squad, there was a point in time when Molineux boasted more players from the Iberian nation than FC Porto, Portugal’s most celebrated football club. In their recent history, there have been 24 players from Portugal to don the orange shirt of Wolves.
In comparison to other countries, only England, Scotland, and Ireland have been represented more for Wolves, with much being owed to the Portuguese revolution and Espírito Santo’s relationship with agent Jorge Mendes for the club’s current Premier League status after years of League One and Championship mediocrity.
Football FanCast takes a look at all 22 non-academy Portuguese players to star for Wolves since Jorge Mendes linked up with the club, outlining their time in central England and the impact they had.
Chiquinho
With a Wolves stint as ebbing and flowing as Chiquinho’s, one could be forgiven for struggling to remember the name.
The winger joined from Estoril in January 2022 but only made eight appearances before a serious knee injury in pre-season halted his career and forced the youngster to take a few steps back.
Having signed for £2.9m on a three-and-a-half-year contract, Chiquinho only stayed in the West Midlands for 18 months before a loan move to Stoke City was cut short in favour of another loan move to FC Famalicão in his home country’s top division in 2023.
At 23 years old, he remains a Wolves player, so he is one to keep an eye on should he return for selection next summer.
Carlos Forbs
Arriving on loan from Ajax in 2024, Carlos Forbs looked to add youthful exuberance to the Wolves attack. Formerly on the books in the youth ranks at Manchester City, Forbs sealed a switch to Ajax in 2023 – despite interest from Wolves.
And although the youngster earned a decent chunk of playing time in his campaign in the Netherlands, he was off again in the summer, with Wolves getting their man at the second attempt, becoming their latest Portuguese recruit to date.
Rodrigo Gomes
Signing from Braga in 2024, Rodrigo Gomes became one of Wolves’ first signings of the summer as a key target for former manager Gary O’Neil.
O’Neil appeared to temper expectations over the youngster following his arrival, but it was clearly a move with the long term in mind, and with compatriot Vitor Pereira at the helm, it remains to be seen whether he can make a name for himself at Molineux.
Toti Gomes
Toti Gomes’ football career had threatened to mirror that of Chiquinho, a childhood friend. He joined from Estoril in 2020, and having failed to clinch a regular starting spot, he found himself offloaded on short-term loans, with Swiss club Grasshopper Zürich looking a likely future home for the centre-back at one point.
However, he was recalled by Bruno Lage back in the 2021/22 campaign and looks as if he could yet find himself a Wolves regular before long. Indeed, he is still young and impressed his manager when called upon during Romain Saiss’ AFCON absence – and has worked his way back into the team’s plans of late under Gary O’Neil.
Gonçalo Guedes
11 goals, 63 appearances, and five major trophies for Benfica tells the story of a talented player that hasn’t quite reached the expected heights when he joined Wolves in 2022 to only tally 13 runouts for the West Midlands club after brief spells with PSG and Valencia following a burgeoning start to life in football.
At 26 years old, he has time on his side. However, although still contracted to Wolves, he has been on loan to boyhood club Benfica for the last two seasons, so his impact in the Premier League is yet to be determined.
There’s every reason to believe he’s capable, considering he has 32 international caps. Molineux might spell out unsettled ground for the Portuguese winger, but if he is able to rediscover the trickery and combination play that became his bread and butter over in his home city, he will no doubt bejewel his parent club upon returning in 2024.
Bruno Jordão
It’s quite remarkable that Bruno Jordão is still technically a Wolves player. He made his debut, scoring against Reading in a third-round EFL Cup tie following his £8m move from Braga B in 2019, but hasn’t hit the same high notes since.
He went on to make his debut in the Europa League against RCD Espanyol and his Premier League introduction as a late substitute against Chelsea after spending time injured on the sidelines – but he has only made one appearance to add to his three for Wolves since, moving to Famalicão, Grasshopper Zürich, and Santa Clara in underwhelming loan moves in the last three seasons.
When the midfielder returns to Molineux next summer, he will be 26. If he is to revive a career that has barely started, his best bet is perhaps to seek pasture’s new.
Diogo Jota
“Diogo is amazing and everybody knows the relationship we built. What Diogo did for us is absolutely fantastic,” said ex-Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo when his superstar winger joined Liverpool for £45m in 2021.
It brought an end to his Molineux days, with the forward leaving with 44 goals and 19 assists in 131 appearances. He lit up the Premier League in Wolves’ most recent golden generation and has since gone on to eclipse those numbers at Liverpool, where he has turned consistent attacking returns into fruit in the form of an FA Cup and League Cup.
The Portuguese danger man remains a revered figure in Wolverhampton, with his efforts to take Wolves out of the Championship not going unnoticed.
Roderick Miranda
There was a time when Roderick Miranda was knocking loudly on the national team door to compete for a position in defence ahead of Real Madrid’s Pepe and Borussia Dortmund’s Raphael Guerreiro, just months after lifting the European Championship in 2016.
But then there was his time at Wolves – very much a blot on the timeline for a player with tremendous talent in the defensive arts. In England, he played 14 games under Nuno to help Wolves win the Championship, but he fell out of favour and slowly faded into non-existence before revitalising his career for current club Melbourne Victory.
There’s definitely a player in there somewhere, but it just didn’t work out in England.
João Moutinho
A metronome in the middle of the park, João Moutinho is another to slide off the Wolves’ Portuguese production line and make a weighty impact at the club. He was Nuno’s dream midfield man, with his ability to keep his teammates ticking with cross-field passes and the flair to dribble his way out of tight spaces making him an important part of the backbone in the club’s revolution.
With 175 appearances in England towards the end of his career, his mentoring and furtherance of younger players at the club went under the radar. However, when he took to the pitch, he demanded undivided attention. Now back in his birth nation, Moutinho is seeing out his playing days at Braga.
Pedro Neto
Still at the club, Pedro Neto might just be the best Portuguese attacker in Wolves’ history when fit. Although injury has plagued his time in the Midlands, the glimpses he’s shown of his peak performances have drawn interest from the continent’s biggest clubs, most recently from Manchester City.
Neto is well-versed in being a full-back’s living and breathing nightmare, while his direct, aggressive mentality to drive to the touchline and whip in a cross displays his traditional wing play – a feature not many wide-men in football possess anymore.
The only thing that would take the Braga academy prospect’s game to the next level was if he played with like-minded attacking players, alongside if he was less injury-prone. A prime Raul Jimenez to latch onto his creativity would cause havoc for any opponent.
