Sometimes all it takes is a return to familiar settings for a footballer player to start shining and for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Gonçalo Guedes, it appears that is happening at Benfica.
The forward returned to his former club on loan in the January transfer window, having endured a miserable spell at Wolves since arriving in August last year.
It was made clear he was not a part of Julen Loptegeui’s plans this season, particularly with the Spanish coach spending big on forward improvements in the window, so he was shipped back to Benfica on loan until the end of the season.
They are a club that the Portugal star knows well, having started his career there and worked up through their various youth and reserve ranks between 2009 and 2015, before making 73 appearances in the first team.
He’s never really lived up to the early potential he showed at the club but according to A Bola, returning there is ‘having an impact’ on him.
They report that his loan deal has been highly successful so far and ‘threatening to turn’ a season that looked lost at Wolves into a successful one.
269 minutes of action so far across five games has already yielded two goals and one assist for him, the same he managed in 18 games for Wolves this season, proving he made the right decision to return to his homeland.
More importantly than the numbers, Guedes has managed to add weight to Benfica’s attacking options, helping them to increase their goal tally and directly contributing to 25% of the 12 they’ve scored.
That is ‘remarkable’ for a new player at any club and he’s impressing that much it is even raising doubts about the club’s move for Julian Draxler.
All in all, things are going very well and if he can continue, the decision to move from Wolves was a wise one indeed.
