Not long before this interview, he made a visit to the office of sporting director Matt Hobbs and informed him that he would not push for a move in January.
Arsenal have been long-term admirers of the Portuguese forward, but Neto wants to put a stop to the noise.
He’s been good in each game I’ve seen. Bro is tenacious as fuck and very rapid. I like his game
Love the guy! He has quick feet and is involved in nearly every goal they score.
I like neto being fantastic again for two reasons - Firstly I brought him in on the draft the week before he started being electric and secondly - It winds my mate right up when I point out how good he is compared to Antony.
Fantastic player.
“I want to say that I am here and I will help everyone,” he tells Telegraph Sport. “I love the club and everybody here, I have always felt that it has given a lot to me.
“I’m enjoying the moment here so I will continue to do that. The future and long-term ambitions don’t matter. We will never go down in any situation, we are here to win and fight. I feel really good at the moment and hope to continue.”
Wolves do not have any plans to sell Neto this season either, and his brilliance has removed the gloom of a worrying summer.
“I feel even better than I was before. A player that has confidence is a different player: I always had it but Gary has given me even more,” he says.
“I play football because I love it, but the game is what it is because of the fans. When I get the ball and they are pushing me and expecting something special, it’s such a good feeling.”
Neto, 23, points to O’Neil as a major factor behind him playing the best football of his career so far.
Harshly dismissed by Bournemouth, O’Neil has been a breath of fresh air for Neto, who was instantly impressed by his training sessions and attention to detail.
“He’s a manager who always says to the players that he is behind them. He’s always telling me to take my one-against-one, go against my men and be confident and that the team will always be there to help me,” he says.
“Even in pre-season under Lopetegui I was feeling really good and when Gary came in, I felt it could be the starting point again to go where I want to go.”
Neto is relishing his resurgence after a tough period plagued by injuries. He has missed around 15 months of the past two seasons after breaking his kneecap twice and then straining ankle ligaments.
Both injuries came at a dreadful time, ruling him out of Portugal’s Euro 2020 and last year’s World Cup.
The backing of his family, girlfriend Carolina and Nuno Tiago Silva, his physio, during his recovery was crucial.
“People said to me it was a serious injury and I was in shock. It was not easy coming home and seeing the other guys playing.
“I decided to give everything to recover and when I went to Portugal that was my full focus. I wasn’t chilling at all, every day I was working. At my parent’s house I put a bike up in their living room and started cycling while they were watching TV.
“My physio wanted me to take my time, but I was pushing and pushing. He said that it will be hard for me to return to the way I was. My mentality was always to come back and be stronger.”
Neto has a tattoo on his right wrist with the word ‘Alive’, which was designed as a defiant message that he would return after the first injury.
Fast forward to the present, and Neto is flying. He returned for Portugal last week as a substitute for their Euro 2024 qualifier in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is counting down the days until next year’s tournament.
He will face Newcastle this weekend as the Wolves dangerman, with his team unbeaten in four league matches.
He’s leaving - just wants peace until then.
Someone who’s just signed a 4 year extension and has made this statement is leaving? All the fuss was in the first place is ex-players trying to stay relevant by saying he’s brilliant (which he is) so should play for their old club (like arsenal or Liverpool) to help them win trophies. If you actually look at the detail rather than the narrow minded outlook of “every person playing well has to go to a big 6 club to win trophies”, you’d see how laughable it was that people were saying he’s leaving in the first place
Someone who’s just signed a 4 year extension and has made this statement is leaving?
new to football?
Not at all, been a wolves fan for 18 years and can’t think of a time a player signed an extension when he wanted to push for a move.
You could argue the whole Nunes situation but there’s differences - Neto’s already at the club and to sign an extension then make this statement seems he’s committed to the club. He’s passionate in his performances and it would be very damaging to a player to sign an extension then push for a move 6 months or a year later. Nunes never looked like he wanted to play for us and seemed to just want to move onto the next big thing when the opportunity arose
Neto’s already at the club and to sign an extension then make this statement seems he’s committed to the club.
Let me remind you of this. So it’s a once bitten twice shy thing for me.
I understand your thought process and optimism, but I have seen enough examples of footballers being the most 2-face cunts on the planet to not take a word they say seriously.
Fair enough I forgot about the Coutihno situation, thanks for reminding me.
Don’t get me wrong I completely get the scepticism, footballers look out for themselves first and foremost. I’m not saying Neto won’t ever leave, cos he will, but I don’t think it’ll be for a couple of years. He’s just got back playing at a club where he’s the main man, if he went to Liverpool or arsenal he’d likely be 4th choice winger or 3rd at best cos they’ve already got their starting wingers so I don’t think it makes sense for him.
Ultimately only the player and the club know the players’ motivations. Vardy and Le Tissier both stayed at clubs they were never gonna win trophies with, Kane and Neves although they’ve left are kinda the same where no one expected them to stay as long as they did so it’s very unknown when Neto will leave. I know for sure we just have to enjoy him in a wolves shirt for however long he is
“But if we go down I am fucking outta here!”
Well, there goes that dream - Arteta and Edu
(probably Saka too, about dream being not having to play every minute of every games)
Imagine that…almost as if Neto leaving in January was never gonna happen 🙄. Generally players don’t sign a 4 year extension to push for a move 6 months later, especially when offers came in for him in the summer. Hobbs himself said a few weeks ago Neto’s been in to see him and is very happy so I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the media to stop writing him off to another club. That’s the problem when you have ex-players as pundits who played for the likes of Liverpool/Arsenal/United in their glory years, they see a player doing well in the PL and automatically “my club has to sign him so he can help us win trophies.” Same happened with Kane, Neves, Rice, Caicedo, Zaha, Cucurella etc. Every player will move on at some point, just can’t see Neto moving on any time soon
The kiss of death.
I really don’t care if this holds up, it’s extremely refreshing that the atmosphere around the club is good enough that just about everyone is clearly happy. Such a change from how things have been.
Also, we finally have someone in charge who I trust to spend the funds wisely when he does leave.
He’s a baller and he deserves a move to a bigger club imo
My greedy mind wants to picture a wing squad of martinelli, trossard, saka, neto😌
When I think of Pedro Neto, why do I think of him saying “Very false.”?
VERY VERY FALSE
I loved my work and everybody there but that didn’t stop them from letting me go