Daniel Podence on Wolves adjustment, Portuguese pals and learning English with Conor Coady

Podence – signed for £17million from Greek club Olympiacos in January – had barely got his feet wet before the Premier League was brought to a halt by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Although having moved over with his girlfriend, Kayra, and his dog, a one-and-a-half-year-old Boston Terrier called Dogui – not quite realising 'doggy' is such a common term – he found himself unable to take English lessons and away from the rest of his family.

But fast-forward to now, Podence has firmly made his mark in a Wolves side looking to win at Chelsea and qualify for the Europa League once again.

The 24-year-old opened his gold and black account in last Monday's victory against Crystal Palace and, amazingly, has the language nailed-down.

Formal lessons are still not available, but he insists Wolves captain Conor Coady and long-serving star Matt Doherty are helping him improve his understanding 'all the time' – although he still cannot get his head around strong accents such as Coady's.

Podence's English is so good, in fact, that it saw him through this half-hour interview on Zoom with no problems. He had originally been due to answer questions via an interpretor but because they had briefly disconnected from the call, he proceeded to take everyone aback with his fluency.

"I arrived in a difficult moment because of Covid," said Podence.

"It was a difficult time to arrive in a city like Wolverhampton in a difficult league. From the beginning, it was difficult because I didn't have so much time to play.

"After one month of being here, the championship stopped, so it was difficult for me because it takes time for a new player in a new team to understand everything.

"Being away from my family was very difficult, but I enjoyed that time to do more training and take some rest.

"For me, it was fantastic because I looked after my body and skills, but the only thing that made me feel bad was my family.

"I was here with my girlfriend and my dog, it was very strange to spend a lot of time at home. After one or two weeks, we did a lot of things to manage in the right way and did not think about bad things.

"We also didn't know how long lockdown would take. It was difficult but now things are going well, and I have more game minutes to enjoy.

"Everything in the city, such as the restaurants and the supermarkets, is now opening, and it's much better for me than before."

Wolves' already-vast Portuguese core, with Rui Patricio being a particularly close friend from their time together at Sporting Lisbon, have made the adjustment a lot easier for Podence.

He admits their presence – Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto just a few others – proved a key factor in him coming to Molineux, too. Chats with Patricio and Neves over the phone sold Wolves to him.

"It was a new team but some colleagues I knew already from the national team, or in Portugal. I knew some guys here, so they made my adaptation better," said Podence.

"They were very, very important to decide to play here because before I signed here, I spoke with Rui and Ruben and also another player that was here before.

"They told me what I could find here and I liked it, and that’s why I signed here and, of course, the club is in an amazing moment since last year.

"We are doing a great job, so it was very important to me when I decided to come here."

Podence is vastly enjoying playing in the Wolves team now, saying it is a pleasure to be alongside the 'unbelievable' Joao Moutinho.

He also insists he has a good relationship with and respects the decisions of boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who slowly integrated him into the starting picture.

Podence, though, considers Patricio one of his best friends at the club – because of them both being from Lisbon, and the difficulties they each experienced while at Sporting.

They both left the club in the summer of 2018 – Patricio for Wolves, Podence for Olympiacos – after a group of fans reportedly attacked players and trashed the club's training ground.

"The situation that we passed through, I think everyone knows. It is difficult to explain, because only someone who was there at that moment can feel it," said Podence.

"We did the same at the same time because we had the same mentality, the same way of thinking. That’s why we did the same. He came here and I went to Olympiacos.

"After the situation in Sporting, we decided both to leave because it was not a good situation for us. Because we were from the city, it was more difficult for us than the others. We could feel it more than the other people."

Asked if it was a scary situation, Podence said: "Yes, unbelievable. Nobody can describe. Even me, if I spoke to you about the situation, I don’t think you could understand because the things are too heavy to explain in words.

"So, I think it’s unfair for me and for you. But it was unbelievable.

"Yes, my dream is to live in a world where it’s not good to lose or to draw, but people need to understand that someone needs to win.

"If you lose or you draw, and you are afraid to go home or to walk on the streets, then it’s very difficult to live in this kind of world.

"In Portugal, when we were there, we drew one time and we lost one time and we were afraid for everything.

"I’d like to live in a world like I live here. I want to win all the time but sometimes it’s not possible, and people need to understand that.

"We are trying to do our best but sometimes it goes wrong. We want to arrive at calm. My girlfriend needs to be safe. Everything needs to be healthy.

"I can’t say much more about that because I left one month after to go to Greece. Going to another country, another place where nobody knows me, and a club that received me so well, it was good for me.

"My mind was very relaxed at the time. Afterwards on the field, I could forget everything. Playing for a club such as Olympiacos, I enjoyed it a lot and I forgot these kind of things because they did a great job with me."

While with Olympiacos, Podence starred in the Champions League. And as things have turned out, Wolves are looking to beat Olympiacos soon as they look to fulfil their Champions League dream.

They are welcoming the Greek club to Molineux in the Europa League last-16, and if they win that will head to Germany for the mini-tournament to see out the competition.

Asked if Wolves could win the Europa League and gain a Champions League spot, Podence said: "Well, I think from the beginning I already understood that.

"The coach said that we are improving all the time, not to be champions, to be in the Champions League or Europa League, only to be better day by day.

"In this case to be better than last year, and we did it. So, I think we have more points than last year, so we are doing better. When you are so close to the Champions League you can feel it, you can feel that you can achieve but it’s a mix.

"Now we need to focus on the Europa League. Also, we need to be in the sixth position and to go through to the final."

It is fair to say, Podence is now ingrained in Wolves' game-by-game philosophy.

"As you said, we were close to achieving the Champions League this year and we can still do it. As the coach wants, we need to improve day by day and game by game, so next year if we can do better than this year, it's possible to get into the Champions League," he said.

"But we need to be humble and understand that we are in the most difficult league in the world. We don't say we want to go there. We go there game by game and afterwards we can talk."

Podence adds with a smile: "We cannot put the horse in front of the cart – we say that in Portugal, too."