John Richards: Pedro Neto call-up a tribute to Wolves boss Nuno

Neto has enjoyed a brilliant week, penning a new five-year contract and earning his first senior Portugal call-up.

Snapped up just over a year ago as a largely unknown quantity from Lazio, he has been one of Nuno’s top performers in 2020/21 so far.

And Richards, who scored 194 goals for Wolves, said: “It was just a case of when he started to blossom, and now he has.

“It’s testament to their recruitment policy, how they see these players, bring them in and gradually get them used to Nuno’s style.

“Suddenly, it’s almost like they’ve always played in that position and style.

“Neto has always been talented, and his rise gives you optimism for the other young players who have come in recently.

“He has taken his opportunities and it’s all very promising.”

Neto – joined in the Portugal squad by Rui Patricio, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho – has come up with a goal and two assists from six matches this term.

Richards believes he has set a fine example for some of Wolves’ summer recruits, including club-record signing Fabio Silva, to follow, too.

“They can look at Neto, and Daniel Podence as well,” said Richards.

“They’ve served their development into the style and role Nuno wants to play.

“Nuno has been very astute in picking players and seeing what they can become.

“This is one of the top leagues in the world, and the standard of play you need from an individual to play, compete and then shine is massive. But somehow they’ve got this ability to identify potential in what are mainly unknown players.

“These are players they’ve watched, seen the potential in, and got the deals done.

“Then within a matter of months, they’re looking like Premier League players straight away.

“It’s impressive and gives us a lot of confidence that this is a team that will be up there for a good while, especially when players are signing five-year contracts. It’s exciting.”