Milestone Man Still Performing Heroics

Ruben Neves reached a major landmark with his appearance in Wolves’ derby victory over Villa on Saturday.

The Molineux skipper’s goal-making contribution to the joyously acclaimed win came in his 250th League and cup game for the club.

Only 45 other men in Wolves history have reached this milestone, including three former team-mates of the Portuguese international.

Conor Coady sits 31st among Molineux’s all-time record appearance-makers with his 317 games while David Edwards played 306 and Matt Doherty 302.

But Neves is only the second player to do so who was born outside the United Kingdom or Ireland. The first was South African Eddie Stuart, who went on to play 322 times in Wolves colours.

The 26-year-old came to the West Midlands from Porto six summers ago, so his outings in the side have come at the rate of well over 40 per season.

Apart from one season that could be described as more middling, he has been an outstanding performer here and has clearly relished his first year as skipper.

Wolves fans will be hoping over the coming weeks and months that Neves’s time on the patch is not drawing towards a close.

His contract has only one more season to run after the end of 2022-23 and it remains to be seen whether those in power at Molineux accept that this summer is the right time to cash in on him, presumably with a club who have qualified for the Champions League.

The next man in his sights in the list is Richard Stearman, the Wolverhampton-bred defender who is still a Derby player six years on from his exit from Wolves.

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