Conor Coady surprised at Chiquinho's Wolves impact
Conor Coady admits he has been surprised at what Chiquinho has already offered in a Wolves shirt and that the club's experienced players have pledged to help him improve.
The 22-year-old arrived at Molineux in January for £3million from Estoril – which could rise to £4.25million with add-ons – and excited supporters with his raw talent and fearless approach.
The winger impressed in his nine appearances, which included a handful of games at right-wing-back, and he has now emerged as a possible solution in that position while Nelson Semedo recovers from a torn hamstring.
Skipper Coady is delighted with what Chiquinho offered in a Wolves shirt, but when asked if he has been surprised with his impact, Coady said: "Yeah, because when he came here not many people knew too much about him.
"Us experienced players need to give him the most confidence we can to make him feel like he's enjoying himself to flourish and feel free. We've seen that. He made such a difference.
"He's quite quiet. They have a little group of Chiquinho, Rayan, Toti, Yerson – they have a really good dynamic between themselves.
"It's about all of us trying to help them so they can flourish, like he (Chiquinho) did.
"He's a really talented footballer and we're enjoying watching him learn every day.
"The crowd haven't seen that much of him but we understand that's what he can do. He's a fantastic talent but more importantly a really good lad who is learning every day."
Wolves' 10th-place finish was an improvement on the previous season, where they finished 13th, but came as a result of a late collapse that saw them miss out on European football.
However, Coady insists the campaign should be judged as an 'improvement' as they look to better it in 2022/23.
He added: "It's improvement. A lot of people might not be happy with that but in terms of us, we've improved, and we need to keep on doing that.
"It's been a season where mid-way through we had higher hopes, because we were fighting for different things and were in the mix.
"That probably made us victims of our own success because everyone is then expecting you to be there.
"The last few weeks were massively disappointing but we'll rest up over the summer and make sure we're ready to come back."
