When it rains it pours is definitely the sombre expression to sum up the sorry state of affairs at Wolverhampton Wanderers currently, as Gary O’Neil’s men battled with Manchester City well last time out, only to end the tight contest with nothing to show for their determined efforts.
A late John Stones goal for Pep Guardiola’s visitors would swing the Premier League contest in City’s favour by two goals to one, with the winner initially ruled out for offside before being controversially overturned to the dismay of the home masses packed into Molineux.
O’Neil will have bought himself more time with this promising display you imagine, with the Wolves boss under increasing pressure to turn around the fortunes of the basement club, as the likes of Matheus Cunha try to continue to shine for the former AFC Bournemouth boss during bleak times in the West Midlands.
Cunha's form this season
The Brazilian has been a source of positivity for Wolves fans to latch onto long before this campaign, with the entertaining 25-year-old enjoying his best time as an Old Gold player last season.
Cunha would help himself to a mightily impressive 14 goals and eight assists across the course of 36 games, cementing his reputation as a firm fan’s favourite in the process, which has only increased this season as Wolves find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League pile.
He has three goals from eight Premier League games so far, with the Old Gold even more reliant on the firepower of their South American ace, knowing the likes of Pedro Neto are no longer present.
Regardless of Cunha reaffirming his importance to the cause, his wage isn’t the heftiest in O’Neil’s camp by any means, with the former Atletico Madrid man earning a reasonable £60k-per-week pay packet currently, according to reports.
In contrast, this ex-Wolves ace is absolutely swimming in cash in his new location, after lining up alongside the Brazilian during the start of his playing days in England.
The player now earning way more than Cunha
When on the books of Wolves still in the top division, midfield star Ruben Neves would only pocket £50k-per-week, with that salary actually coming in as being less than Cunha’s.
Now, however, the Portuguese midfielder has won himself a gigantic pay increase playing for Al-Hilal out in Saudi Arabia, with the former Wolves number eight now on an outrageous £277k-per-week salary.
Player
Wage per week
Wage per year
1. Neymar
£1.6m
£83.3m
2. Kalidou Koulibaly
£555k
£28m
3. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
£400k
£20m
4. Aleksandar Mitrovic
£400k
£20m
5. Malcom
£288k
£14.9m
Amazingly, that steep wage doesn’t see Neves even enter into the top five highest earners bracket at the Middle East outfit, with Neymar taking home a mind-boggling £83.3m per year when scanning the table above.
Still, Neves’ extortionate pay packet for Al-Hilal means he takes home £217k more per week than Cunha does battling it out for the Old Gold, but nobody back at Molineux would accuse their former midfield star of throwing in the towel prematurely to chase down these riches.
Long before a lavish move to Riyadh was even on the cards, the midfielder would score screamers like this one against Derby County on a regular basis for his ex-employers, with Neves even playing for Wolves in the Championship before their triumphant return to Premier League in 2018.
It wasn’t quite the same bumper £277k-per-week wage for him back then – with Neves pocketing a far more modest £30k-per-week – but his former club won’t bother themselves too much thinking about his lavish salary for Al-Hilal, as more pressing relegation concerns are surely on their mind.
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