Wolverhampton Wanderers progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League, despite losing 3-2 to Espanyol on Thursday evening. Having accumulated a healthy 4-0 advantage in the first leg, Nuno Espirito Santo gave an opportunity to some of his squads’ fringe players, one of whom was January addition Daniel Podence, signed from Olympiacos. In commentary during the match former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Paul Ince highlighted Podence’s lack of Premier League game time but lauded the Portuguese winger’s performance.
What did he say?
Speaking on BT Sport 1 ex-England international Ince said: “He didn’t get much game time in the Premier League, but what we can see is he’s a very, very good player.”
The former midfielder added: “He’s got two great feet, great awareness. From an individual point of view, he’s saying to Nuno ‘I want to play, I want to start’. I thought he was excellent, everything he did was sharp, he created and assisted, he’s got a lovely balance about him.”
Pondence send message to Santo
This was the winger’s first start since joining the West Midlands club, and he put on a show for which manager Santo had a front-row seat. The 24-year-old got his reward for the evening’s outstanding effort, by providing the assist for Matt Doherty’s late goal, his first since joining the club. His manager will have been pleased to see the new recruit get off the mark creatively on his first start and will hope it is the first of many.
On several occasions Podence caught the eye, turning over possession via three interceptions, as well as completing two key passes and two dribbles, as per WhoScored. It was an incredibly rounded display from the 24-year-old who consistently threatened the opposition both in and out of possession and may have earned himself a first Premier League start on the basis of this display.
So far Podence, valued at £13.5m (Transfermarkt) has made just two substitute appearances in the top-flight since joining Wolves totalling 26 minutes of action. It has not been enough time to truly reflect his abilities, but on his first start former Premier League great Ince was impressed.
