Sometimes, all a player needs is the love and the trust of his manager. And while Pedro ‘Pote’ Goncalves might not have found that at Wolverhampton Wanderers, he certainly did at Sporting Lisbon, under the watchful gaze of Ruben Amorim.
“He is a coach who has helped me a lot,” the 24-year-old Portugal international tells Record of Amorim, who guided Sporting to their first Primeira Liga title since the days when Cristiano Ronaldo was a buck-toothed, hot-stepping teenager dressed up in green and white.
“I am flattered to work with him because he is a great coach. I hope to continue working with him for many more years. I’m glad we’re working together.”
Wolves like Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim
The admiration is most certainly mutual. Since joining Amorim at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in the summer of 2020, Pote has scored 43 goals and set up 23 more in 88 Primeira Liga appearances. There were 15 goals and 14 assists last term alone. An expert set-piece taker with a penchant for long-range rockets, there’s a very good reason why Pote has been labelled the second coming of Bruno Fernandes in the Portuguese capital.
“The team is not dependent on Pedro Goncalves. But we are stronger with Pote, who has unique characteristics,” Amorim says of a man who has a £70 million release clause in his contract.
But, speaking hypothetically, if Amorim was to take over at Wolves – The Sun reporting that he is one of the club’s leading candidates to take Bruno Lage’s place on the Molineux bench – what are the chances of Pedro ‘Pote’ Goncalves following him back to the Black Country?
Pote certainly has unfinished business in Old Gold. Pote made just one first-team appearance during two years in England before leaving Wolves for free back in 2019. A decision, with Pote now a Portugal international and one of Europe’s most prolific midfielders, that has aged about as gracefully as a pint of spilt milk on a Persian rug.
The solution to Wolves’ goalscoring problems?
One of Amorim’s first tasks, should he become Wolves’ third Portuguese head coach in a row, would be to find a way give this toothless side a much-needed bite. Pote (nine goals and assists in just 10 games already this season) would certainly provide a helping hand.
“He’s an absolute diamond,” former Wolves youth coach Rob Edwards tells Sky Sports. “He is a brilliant young man. And, wow, he is doing great. I am so proud of him and so pleased for him.”
“What he has gone on to do since, all credit to him. He’s worked really hard for it and he deserves everything that he gets. He has the right attitude. He is brave.”
“Someone like Pedro who is technically brilliant, really gifted, a mistake will not faze him. He will be like, ‘OK, give it me again.’ The biggest thing when you are working with top talents is that you never need to motivate them. They do it every day.
“He will have a phenomenal career.”
Whether that ‘phenomenal career’ takes in a second spell at Wolves, however, could depend on what Amorim decides over the coming days or weeks.
