Wolves have been dealt a huge blow in their search for qualification for European football, as key midfielder Ruben Neves has suffered a significant knee injury which will keep him out for over a month.
The club released a statement yesterday detailing the injury in full, which will surely frustrate supporters and Bruno Lage, who has now got to plan without his star man for four crucial upcoming fixtures in April.
The statement read: “Ruben Neves suffered a medial collateral ligament injury to his knee in the match against Leeds United on Friday evening.
“He travelled to Portugal with members of the Wolves medical team to see a knee specialist, where the injury was confirmed as uncomplicated.
“He will spend this week in Portugal with the Wolves physio before returning to continue his rehabilitation at Compton Park. We are hoping for Ruben to be fit to return in May.”
Up next for Wolves is a Midlands derby with rivals Aston Villa at home, and supporters will be especially disappointed to not see Neves, who has been linked with a move away in the summer – and could just play one more game for the club at Molineux if he returns for the games in May.
This season, the Portuguese midfielder has averaged a 7.20 match rating in the Premier League according to SofaScore, scoring four goals and assisting two more in 28 appearances.
In addition, he has staked a claim for being one of the top passers in the world, evident by him ranking in the top 1% among midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions for long passes completed per 90 (14.92), top 3% for cross-field switches per 90 (4.49) and top 6% for passes into the final third per 90 (7.16).
He has also remained defensively solid throughout the last year, ranking in the top 5% for dribblers contester per 90 (3.39), and top 15% for tackles in the defensive third per 90 (1.38).
The 25-year-old will be a huge loss for the club, who are still in the hunt for European football and their chances of securing it may now be derailed without him.
In other news: Forget Traore: Lage must unleash Wolves’ rarely-seen 18y/o who is “such a good talent”
