Liverpool could sign two more Wolves stars over Porto

Liverpool face a Wolves side that is quietly ticking, just four points behind in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

But that’s not the only way the two sides are more closely related than many might imagine.

There are numerous links between the two clubs that have been formed in recent years.

Conor Coady, a Liverpool Academy graduate, who moved to Wolves in 2015 from Huddersfield Town and is now the club captain, of course, while Diogo Jota and Ki-Jana Hoever were involved in the transfers between clubs this summer.

More interesting, however, are the ties between some of Liverpool’s behind-the-scenes teams with Wolves.

It has been well documented that wolves have strong ties to Portugal and there is one in the form of Pep Lijnders, assistant coach to Jurgen Klopp.

The Dutchman, who labeled Jota a “ pressing monster ” and was instrumental in persuading Liverpool to move in for the fit forward, worked at Porto before Liverpool, where there were a couple of current stars of the Wolves among a plethora that was instrumental in development.

Lijnders also narrowly missed work with Joao Moutinho at Porto, with the Dutch manager switching to senior squad from Team B the same summer the midfielder left to sign for AS Monaco.

Elite development coach Vitor Matos, who arrived at Anfield last October, is also a former Porto employee, where he has also worked with youth.

Meanwhile, Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo spent a season at Porto, moving to Wolves immediately following that in 2017.

There are two players in particular that Liverpool have been linked to in the past with transfer moves that have special ties to Lijnders and Matos.

Ruben Neves

Liverpool have long been linked to a move for the midfielder, for the first time he was rumored to appreciate Neves when he was Porto captain at 18 in the Champions League.

Still only 23, Neves joined the Wolves in 2017 when they were in the league, becoming the most expensive player ever signed by a second division team in England.

Lijnders said of Neves in 2019: “I know him very well, his ambition, his passion for the game, his professionalism. I know what he gives to the team and this type of player always interests us.

“I recognized him when I saw him at Wolves. I saw technique, professionalism. I saw the 2013-14 player I knew.”

Liverpool have plenty of midfielders, at least when they are all fit, but with Gini Wijnaldum increasingly likely to leave and a couple of 30-plus others, those ties may still return in the near future.

Fabio Silva

Lijnders is also a big fan of Silva’s quality, but it’s Matos who knows him best.

Porto, who sold Silva to Wolves this summer for £ 36m, lost the striker as a youngster when he signed for Benfica.

Once they realized their mistake, however, they used Matos’ relationship with the player to entice him to return, as fellow Porto manager Jose Tavares explained to ECHO earlier this year.

Tavares said: “Vitor was Fabio’s coach when he was 12 and has kept in touch with Fabio. Being a friend of Vitor too, he said to me ‘hey Jose, I think Fabio is a little angry in Benfica. , and maybe he wants to move. ‘

“He was the first guy who spoke to me and it made me think we could save him again and bring him back. Why? Because he can create this kind of relationship with players.”

With Raul Jimenez injured after a disgusting clash of heads at Emirates Stadium against Arsenal last weekend, Silva is likely to start at Anfield.

Not from 19 to next July, the Portuguese wonderkid was compared to Cristiano Ronaldo in some quarters.

He has scored two goals in seven appearances for Wolves so far, but has yet to score in the Premier League, and is said to be interesting for Liverpool as he has emerged on the senior scene in his home country.

At some point in the future, both Silva and Neves will likely want the Champions League as they take the next step in their careers.

Just like Diogo Jota did.