£50m player now admits he’s ‘very happy’ at Wolves amid recent transfer interest
Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri has admitted Gary O’Neil has raised his confidence, with the Algerian featuring heavily for Wanderers this season.
The 22-year-old has been one of the standout performers this season at Molineux, and has regularly been picked to play on the left.
So far, Ait-Nouri has made 23 appearances, for a total of 1512 minutes of game time. For context, last season under Bruno Lage, Steve Davis and Julen Lopetegui, he made 27 appearances for a total of 1480 minutes.
He has become a much more prominent figure at Wolves, and is a player Gary O’Neil rates highly – earlier in the season, the manager described him as ‘mad’, but someone whom ‘the sky is the limit’ for.
Ait-Nouri is in a great place right now, and suggested that O’Neil has really raised his confidence…
Rayan Ait-Nouri loves being at Wolves with Gary O’Neil having raised his confidence
Ait-Nouri has given a few words to the club’s official website, after returning from AFCON last week.
Ait-Nouri featured in Algeria’s three group-stage matches, but Les Verts did not advance to the knockout stages, meaning the player returned to Wolves ahead of the game with West Bromwich Albion.
Wolves fans have been loving Ait-Nouri’s performances this season, and his renaissance at the club.
The youngster did not have a good end to last season, with Julen Lopetegui leaving him out of several matchday squads towards the end of the campaign.
But things are much better now, and Ait-Nouri said (Wolves official): “I’m very happy to be back. I love this club. My teammate and the coach, it’s very good, and I’ll continue to work. It’s different, the conditions are different, the weather also, and the pitches.
“I needed to come back well and be ready for every game to reward the confidence the manager gave me, and I want to continue like this.”
Wolves fans will love these remarks
It is great to hear Ait-Nouri expressing how happy he is at the moment, and it has been a real turnaround for the player.
Ait-Nouri missing out on all those matchday squads last season led to some speculation that he actually might leave in the summer – and that would have been a huge shame, because it is clear he’s a serious prospect.
It would be no surprise if other clubs came calling for him this summer, just as they are likely to with Pedro Neto. Last month, there were reports that Liverpool and Arsenal had been showing interest in Ait-Nouri, with the player potentially costing around £50 million
But in his own words, Ait-Nouri loves the club and hopefully he will want to stay for a little while longer yet.
