Nuno Espirito Santo has given a pathway for young players to reach the Wolverhampton Wanderers first-team if they impress for the U18s and U23s.
He brought in 20-year-old Pedro Neto from Lazio, 20-year-old Renat Dadashov from Estoril and 21-year-old Bruno Jordao from Lazio last summer.
Nuno then signed Luke Matheson from Rochdale, Enzo Loiocide from SCO Dijon and Leonardo Campana from Barcelona SC Guayaquil in January, one 17-year-old and two 19-year-olds who will develop in the reserves before getting a chance at senior level.
The Wolves boss has also targeted a number of teenage strikers in Joe Gelhardt and James Graham. But how many minutes of football has Nuno given to existing Wolves youngsters this season?
As per Transfermarkt, Chem Campbell (aged 17), Terry Taylor (aged 18), Taylor Perry (aged 18), Luke Cundle (aged 18), Lewis Richards (aged 18), Campana (aged 19), Austin Samuels (aged 19), Andreas Söndergaard (aged 19), Owen Otasowie (aged 19), Morgan Gibbs-White (aged 20), Pedro Neto (aged 20), Dion Sanderson (aged 20), Ryan Giles (aged 20), Ruben Vinagre (aged 21), Bruno Jordao (aged 21), Benny Ashley-Seal (aged 21) and Meritan Shabani (aged 21) have collectively made the first-team matchday squad 165 times in all competitions this season.
Campbell (1 app, 68 mins), Terry (1 app, 19 mins), Perry (3 apps, 158 mins), Cundle (1 app, 7 mins), Otasowie (1 app, 17 mins), Gibbs-White (13 apps, 676 mins), Neto (35 apps, 1450 mins), Sanderson (1 app, 90 mins), Vinagre (28 apps, 1538 mins), Jordao (3 apps, 125 mins), Ashley-Seal (2 apps, 67 mins) and Shabani (1 app, 16 mins) have made a total of 90 appearances and amassed 4231 minutes of senior football across the board.
Nuno has named 17 players aged 21 or under in Wolves’ matchday squad at least once this season, so it’s clear he’s still taking care of the youngsters.
