He's a low-key star, as if living in the last century, he's not good at showmanship, he doesn't attend any modern occasions, and he doesn't surf social media (rarely updated). For more than 10 years, the only thing that has supported him to brave the Premier League at the age of 31 is his excellent technology. He has never played for europe's top giants in the true sense of the word, but is regarded as one of the best midfielders in the history of Portuguese football, and he is Portugal's low-key midfield superstar Moutinho.
Low-key master
In the summer of 2018, Moutinho, then 31, came to Wolves for a transfer fee of 5 million euros. The transfer didn't cause any waves, partly because Moutinho was a grassroots star himself, but he had never played in a big team for many years. On the other hand, it is also because of the transfer of the 31-year-old to join the Premier League promotion, most people think that he is just using the relationship between Wolves and Portuguese players to retire. But it turned out that people were clearly wrong, because Moutinho, instead of coming to retire, carried the team forward as the core of the midfield.
By the end of the 30th round of the Premier League this season, Moutinho had made 168 appearances for Wolves in all competitions, surpassing the 140 games he had played for Porto and was still a bit short of his 239 for Sporting Portugal and 219 for Monaco. However, considering that he is 35 years old, coupled with the objective reality that Wolves' front line is relatively single every season, Moutinho's attendance at Wolves is already very impressive, and it is an indispensable midfield thigh for the team.
In the 2018-2019 season, which just joined the Premier League, Moutinho integrated into the team without any adaptation period, and even more into the Premier League. That season, he made all 38 league appearances and contributed eight assists in a single season, with the midfield duo of Ruben Neves setting off a Portuguese storm in the Premier League, and led Wolves to the League Cup final, only to lose to Watford in second place. All in all, in his first season in the Premier League, Moutinho was already amazing enough.
Times have passed, even if Thiago Jota leaves the team to join the Reds, Jimenez suffered a serious head injury, coupled with his own age has increased by 4 years, but the midfield duo of Moutinho and Neves is still rock solid, which is the main configuration that no manager can shake.
It is worth mentioning that as a midfielder who has become famous as early as the 2008 European Championship, Moutinho, who has always been very low-key outside the field, is still Neves' idol. Neves has benefited a lot from being able to play alongside his idol on the pitch. Neves debuted in Porto, so there are stories about Moutinho, who is also the head of the humerus who followed Wolves back from the Championship to the Premier League. But in front of Moutinho, Neves did not change the habit of watching idol games on the sidelines when he was in Porto, whether it was the style of the game or the training on the spot, he was learning from the veteran.
Moutinho was the top midfielder of the Portuguese Premier League during his time at Porto, but he has always been willing to be a green leaf on the bigger stage, both in Monaco and in Portugal in 2016. However, after coming to Wolves, he became the big man of the stars and the moon. Neves said he didn't know if it worked, but he just followed Moutinho to drink pure water, practice in the gym, and clean up his cabinets. It seems that Neves learned from his idols to start from the little things around him in order to strive for a better performance on the big stage of the stadium.
The sincere cooperation between the young and old midfielders has allowed Wolves to have ups and downs in the past few years, but in the end, they can ensure the stability of the core framework of the team's lineup. Moutinho is a scheming midfielder, and his retro style of playing ensures that he can maximize his benefits with minimal effort, especially when he adjusts his speed to control the ball in response to changes in the rhythm of the game. Although the Portuguese Super League and Ligue 1 are not the top competitions in Europe, the style of play there is more diversified, the physical confrontation is not weak at all, coupled with the experience of the Champions League and various international competitions, Moutinho has long been a master on the pitch, and sometimes it is obvious that in the case of physical confrontation is at a disadvantage, he can also rely on his own experience to resolve the crisis. In contrast, Neves's style of play is more aggressive, ensuring that Wolves' midfield has enough hardness, speed and impact to make up for some of Moutinho's deficiencies.
Top Priorities World Preliminaries
Although still the core of the team, Moutinho and Wolves also need to face a very real problem, that is, to renew their contracts or leave the team. 2022 is the contract year for Moutinho and Wolves, and the contract between the two sides will end on June 30, but as of the end of this article, there is still no movement of contract renewal between the two sides. In other words, Wolves are aware of Moutinho's age problems and are likely to break up amicably and no longer seek a contract extension. If this is the case, it is likely to affect the stability of Wolves for some time to come, but this is also the choice that reform must make.
For Moutinho, he may also have to look at the results of the World Cup play-offs, and if he can participate in the Qatar World Cup in November, then the possibility of renewing his contract with Wolves for another year or moving to the other top five league teams is not ruled out. Moutinho had made 142 appearances for Portugal before the World Cup play-off against Turkey at the end of March, and although it was difficult to catch up with Cristiano Ronaldo, this number of appearances was enough to ensure that Wolves' midfield was firmly in the second place in team history. If Portugal ends up missing the World Cup, Moutinho is likely to say goodbye, and retiring or returning to Portugal to play for another year or two is a good option.
However, at this stage, for Moutinho, the first priority is to help Portugal break through in the World Preliminary Round, this time the team's back line has been seriously hit, Pepe is infected with the epidemic can not play, Díaz is also absent due to injury, obviously this play-off will be a harsh challenge.
Text/Supine Braces - Yangyuan Zhang