Time to go: £60k-p/w Wolves dud must never play under Lage, he publicly slammed Nuno

3 minute read

16/7/2021 | 07:05pm

Wolves players at Euro 2020 didn’t enjoy a great deal of success.

Molineux trio Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho tasted defeat in the last 16 for Portugal, while Spain’s Adama Traore managed just a solitary 13-minute substitute appearance on their way to the semi-finals.

It was a disappointing summer for those players but there will be a bittersweet taste in the mouth of a certain Patrick Cutrone.

A few years ago, the forward was one of the biggest prospects in Italian football. He scored 18 goals in one season for AC Milan when he was a teenager but he has not lived up to expectations since.

Back then, you’d have assumed that Cutrone would be a shoo-in for the national team. He was scoring goals as a youngster and looked a class above those in a similar age bracket.

However, a move to Wolves has severely hampered his development. Instead of taking to the field in the Euro 2020 final last weekend, he was sat at home celebrating rather than being involved at Wembley.

Should Wolves sell Cutrone?

Definitely!

No way!

If everything had gone according to plan, he would have been playing at the tournament this summer. Instead, he turned out for his country at the European Under-21 Championship.

At the age of 23, he was playing above his age group and did find some form in the tournament. Captaining his nation, Cutrone beat the goalkeeper three times in four matches at the finals as, for once, he had a smile on his face.

After joining Wolves for £16m in 2019, the attacker started just three league matches in the opening half of the 2019/20 season. Cutrone subsequently joined Fiorentina on loan and publicly slammed Nuno Espirito Santo over his team selection.

“Many people say I didn’t settle in, but that’s false,” the Italian began, before adding: “The truth is that the coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, had his group of faithful players who he would not give up, those who won promotion from the Championship.

“He was totally fixated on that XI, always the same XI, and couldn’t see any of the other players in the squad.”

Can you guess these obscure Wolves players? Here’s the first one…

The £60,000-per-week earner was loaned out to Fiorentina again last season but returned to the Midlands in January after being recalled with just five goals for La Viola to his name.

This looked like a second opportunity for him at Wolves. Raul Jimenez was out with a fractured skull and Fabio Silva had only found the net on two occasions at that point. However, he was tossed aside once again by Nuno as he joined Valencia on a temporary basis until the end of the season.

Seven matches and zero goals later, he returned to Molineux. Fortunately for Cutrone, Nuno is no longer in charge, but Bruno Lage should also forget about him.

The Italian needs to secure an exit because, with Jimenez now fully recovered, his chances of first team football could be extremely limited.

This feels like a good time for Cutrone and Wolves to finally cut ties for good.

AND in other news, Lage could discover Wolves’ new Goncalves by signing “silky” 20-goal magician…

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