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The English club that became Portugal’s second home
Last month, Wolverhampton Wanderers were relegated from the Premier League after eight years in the English top flight.
The relegation marked the symbolic – albeit possibly temporary – end of a historic era at the club. A period characterised by investment, successes and, above all… Portuguese talent.
That’s right. Portuguese talent.
It may seem strange at first glance, but Wolves’ history has been deeply shaped by the small Iberian nation. Many of the best and most beloved Portuguese players of the last decade have, at some point, worn the ‘Old Gold’ shirt. To understand why, we need to go back to what became known as Wolves’ ‘Portuguese Revolution’.
How Portugal took over Wolverhampton
For many years, Wolves was a club that embodied the very essence of Britishness – under the stewardship of the traditionalist Jack Hayward in the 1990s, and later under Steve Morgan in the mid-2000s. The squad was made up mostly of English players, with a few Scots and Welshmen in the mix. The club’s first Portuguese player, Silas, arrived in 2003, played just nine matches and returned to Portugal three years later. A brief spell, an isolated case.
All that changed in 2016, when the Chinese group Fosun International took over the club with a clear mission: to return Wolves to the Premier League, from which they had been relegated in 2012. To this end, they went to Europe in search of a manager worthy of the project. And they found him in Nuno Espírito Santo.
The former Portuguese goalkeeper arrived from Porto with a creative and proactive style of play that immediately caught Fosun’s eye. He was appointed in May 2017. And that was when everything began to change.
In his first season at Wolverhampton, Nuno led the club on a dazzling campaign in the Championship. One decisive victory followed another. The team played with confidence, energy and joy. And when promotion to the Premier League was confirmed in 2018, after six long years away, Nuno was already a hero.
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But he wasn’t alone in this story.
At his side was an increasingly Portuguese coaching staff – led by assistant Rui Pedro Silva. And behind the scenes, a key figure: the “super-agent” Jorge Mendes, who became an advisor to the club following Fosun’s arrival. Mendes had known Nuno for over 20 years, since the manager was still a player. With his vast network of contacts, he began to connect Wolves with some of Portugal’s greatest talent scouts.
The first heroes of the “Portuguese Revolution”
The first fruit of this partnership was Hélder Costa. The attacking midfielder – who would later choose to represent Angola at international level – made a brilliant debut, was the club’s top scorer and was voted Player of the Year for 2017 by the fans and his teammates. The loan soon turned into a permanent contract, to everyone’s delight.
But it was in the summer of 2017 that the floodgates really opened. Among the new Portuguese signings, two names stood out above the rest: Rúben Neves and Diogo Jota.
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The pair, who had previously played together at Porto, were in a league of their own. Neves, a playmaking midfielder of rare elegance, brought stability and organisation to the midfield. Jota, an electric forward with a nose for goal and that ability to make the difference in the most unlikely moments. In no time at all, the two became pillars of Wolves’ Portuguese revolution.
Neves was voted Player of the Year after his debut season and stayed at the club for another six years, becoming a legend. To this day, he holds the record for the Portuguese player with the most appearances for the club: 253.
"It’s like a family to us. Sometimes we feel like we’re back in Portugal when we have dinner together." – Rúben Neves
Jota stayed for a shorter time, but left an equally deep mark. His 44 goals remain a record among Wolves’ Portuguese players. After moving to Liverpool in 2020, he became one of the world’s most decisive forwards, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup. He was part of the Liverpool squad nominated twice for the Ballon d’Or for Men’s Club of the Year – in 2022 and 2025.
Following his tragic death last year, the club’s supporters paid tribute to the player before a match against Manchester City, unfurling a huge banner bearing Jota’s image whilst Sting’s ‘Fields of Gold’ – the striker’s favourite song – echoed around Molineux. Later that year, he was also honoured posthumously by being inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.
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Leaving Portugal to face a completely different culture, climate and language is never easy – but Mendes and Nuno’s strategy was to bring a piece of home with them. With so many compatriots at the club, no new signing arrived feeling lost. As Neves said in 2018: “Now it’s like our family. Sometimes we feel like we’re in Portugal when we have dinner together. My daughter turned one [last month]. I brought my family and my fiancée’s family over from Portugal, and with all the Portuguese players too, there were 30 of us.” (The Guardian)
When Wolves found a new identity
In 2018, as was becoming the norm, more Portuguese players arrived in Wolverhampton. Rúben Vinagre won the Young Player of the Season award. Rui Patrício took over in goal. João Moutinho delighted the fans and was voted Player of the Season. The latter two were regular starters for the Portuguese national team and had helped the country win Euro 2016 – the first major title in Portugal’s history. That year, Patrício was even nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
Wolves were no longer just an English club with a few Portuguese players. They were something else – something new, something alive.
“When there are lots of Portuguese players, you can ask them about the rules here and they’ll help you.” – José Sá
The players were known for their determination and professionalism. They avoided drinking and partying, living close to the training ground at Compton Park – a collective decision that spoke volumes about the spirit of the group. The fans saw the difference with their own eyes. The team had a different feel to it. A sense of purpose. Any Wolves fan would have had to be out of their mind not to embrace the Portuguese Revolution.
And the domino effect did the rest: every Portuguese player who arrived attracted others, who would find a familiar, welcoming environment, full of familiar faces from previous clubs, the youth teams or the national side.
The language barrier was a key factor in all of this. Pedro Neto, who arrived in 2019, put it well: “It makes a huge difference. When I went to Lazio, I didn’t know the other players. The first year was difficult; my Italian wasn’t that good.” (The Athletic) José Sá added: “I know many of the lads from the national team. It was really good for settling in – when there are lots of Portuguese players, you can ask about the rules here and they help you.” (Sky Sports)
But Nuno has always made it clear that the aim was not to create a Portuguese bubble in the heart of the West Midlands. It was to integrate – into the club, the country, the culture, the language: “Having moments without a language barrier helps with integration. At the same time, we’ve chosen to speak only English amongst ourselves, so that the players have to catch up.” (The New York Times)
"It’s very important to get [new signings] to adapt as quickly as possible, and for that, training together isn’t enough." – Nélson Semedo
The club supports the players in this process – in 2016, Hélder Costa commented: “I’m currently taking English lessons. [...] We’re learning and soon we’ll be able to hold fluent conversations. The club provides a teacher, who gives us lessons twice a week.” (O Jogo)
Nuno has always believed that football is built both on and off the pitch. For him, being surrounded by people he trusts makes all the difference: “It’s great to have a friend who lives nearby so we can spend time together – including with our families and wives. All of that helps.” (The New York Times)
This mindset took root in the Wolves dressing room and remains alive to this day. Last year, captain Nélson Semedo said: “It’s very important to help [new signings] settle in as quickly as possible, and to do that, training together isn’t enough. We have to show them other sides of ourselves outside the club.” (Wolves)
This sense of welcome extended beyond the dressing room – the fans felt it too. In 2021, the club’s foundation launched the ‘Feed Our Pack’ project to tackle local poverty and help those hardest hit by COVID-19. Nuno donated £250,000 to the initiative. Wolves weren’t just playing football. They were building something in a city.
And when a club builds something like that – an identity, a community, a purpose – the results follow.
From Europe to the Ballon d’Or: the heyday of the Portuguese Wolves
In their first season back in the Premier League, the club finished 7th – their best finish since 1980 – and secured a place in the Europa League: their first European competition since 1980–81. They reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Sevilla, who went on to win the trophy. The following year, they finished 7th again.
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In the 2022–23 season, there were 11 Portuguese players in the first-team squad. For three consecutive years, the Player of the Year was Portuguese: Pedro Neto in 2021, José Sá in 2022, Rúben Neves in 2023. In August 2022, Matheus Nunes arrived from Sporting CP for £38 million – a club record. A year later, he left for Guardiola’s Manchester City for £53 million – another record.
And then there was Vitinha.
In 2026, when looking at Wolves’ former Portuguese players, one name stands out above all others. Last year, the midfield maestro finished third in the Ballon d’Or, behind only Ousmane Dembélé and Lamine Yamal. His versatility and leadership were decisive in helping PSG win the first Champions League in the club’s history, and Portugal win the Nations League for the second time.
“I feel fully integrated at Wolves and in the community too.” – Vitinha
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But there was a time when Vitinha was just another promising talent to pass through the Wolves dressing room. He arrived on loan from Porto in 2020, played in 22 matches, and left. The club saw no place for him – the tactics prioritised quick transitions and counter-attacks, whilst Vitinha preferred to control possession and organise the play. But he never forgot how he felt there: “It’s always easier when a large part of the squad is Portuguese. I feel fully integrated into the team and into society as well.” (Wolves). And he left his mark – a stunning goal from 32 metres out that decided the match against Chorley in the EFL Cup.
The end of an era… or just a pause?
In 2021, Wolves finished 13th – quite a drop after two consecutive seasons in 7th. Nuno left the team shortly afterwards. Two other Portuguese managers took charge of the team in the following years – Bruno Lage and Vítor Pereira – but neither managed to reignite the spark.
Their league position kept slipping. This season was the final straw. The club is back in the second tier. And along the way, there was an exodus of Portuguese players.
In October last year, Wolves fielded a starting line-up in the Premier League without a single Portuguese player – ending a run of seven years and 272 consecutive matches with at least one Portuguese player on the pitch.
The focus seems to have shifted to another Portuguese-speaking hub: Brazil. Signings such as André, Pedro Lima and João Gomes signal a new direction, likely due to recent financial constraints.
But that is not the end of the story.
For the Championship, the club still has four Portuguese players: goalkeeper José Sá, defender and captain Toti Gomes, striker Rodrigo Gomes – and 18-year-old prodigy Mateus Mané, who told the BBC earlier this year: “I want to win the Ballon d’Or one day.” (BBC Sport)
And Wolves’ links with Portugal are everywhere. Rui Pedro Silva is still an assistant coach. The squad’s physiotherapist, Rui Fuste, is also Portuguese. Last year, the squad spent ten days in the Algarve during pre-season. The region has its own official Wolves supporters’ club, founded in 2018. This month, club scouts were spotted at a match between Porto and Alverca. And it’s worth remembering: the third kit for the 2020–21 season bore a suspicious resemblance to the Portuguese national team’s shirt.
Across Portugal, people still gather in pubs to watch Wolves, curious to see who will be the next Neves, the next Jota, the next Vitinha.
Far beyond football: the legacy Portugal has left at Wolves
The most important lasting effect of the Portuguese generation is not a trophy, nor a record, nor a statistic. It is character. Before Nuno, before Mendes, before the first wave of 2016, the club was seeking to find its way back to the top. It needed new horizons, a breath of fresh air.
The Portuguese Revolution delivered exactly that. And Nuno’s philosophy still resonates at the club today: “The first step in a project is to create an identity. If you don’t have an identity, today you want this player and tomorrow you want another. Everyone in the squad knows what their tasks are. They go home knowing what to expect the next day. I truly believe that this is the best way to develop the team.” (Sky Sports)
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Wolverhampton Wanderers are going through a difficult spell. But the club has been down this road before and knows the way back – and it doesn’t have to look far to remember that. One need only look to the small nation bordering Spain.
Over the last decade, Wolves have been an indispensable source of Portuguese talent, creating an unexpected but solid link between two very different cultures.
The impact of this relationship can be felt at the club, and it can be felt in Portugal – where many of the most important players of the last decade have an unlikely name on their CV: Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Players like Vitinha. Currently one of the best in the world, without a doubt.
Wolves and the Premier League may be going their separate ways for now. But Wolves and Portugal will never be disconnected – the two are now, through the joys and the hardships, side by side. Each has been part of the other’s history.
And that shared history is a beautiful thing to behold.
