00:00Yeah, interesting one. And in the show today, we're going to be discussing about six players who will want to impress in preseason.
00:06Of course, everyone wants to impress, but I think we've chosen six players who have got plenty to play for.
00:13And it's not just some people's preseasons, first preseason as Wolves players.
00:18It's Vito Pereira's first preseason as Wolves head coach. So it's a very important one for him.
00:23So let's go straight into it, Kino. Let's go straight into and dive straight into someone who's actually not going to be there today.
00:28And as you've just said, not going to be there for Portugal. And that's Hugo Bueno.
00:32And you can understand it. Like I say, he got to the quarterfinals. Didn't have the best tournament, I don't think.
00:38You can say for Spain under 21s, they got knocked out by England, I believe, in the quarterfinals.
00:44And he will not be there today. He'll not be there in Portugal. But as you can understand, they need rest.
00:49They need recovery. And Vito Pereira will run the rule over him, I think, when they get back to England.
00:54It's unfortunate timing, though, isn't it, Liam, with Ryan Acknoy going to Manchester City.
01:00I guess the only caveat is that Rodrigo Gomez, another person who will be competing with him, I guess, for that left wing-back slot, won't be there as well.
01:08But in terms of what we think, Hugo Bueno, there's been some great, I think, motivational speaking from Vito Pereira.
01:15He's very excited to have Hugo Bueno back in the camp.
01:17And I would say, and probably yourself at this moment in time, that he's in prime position to take over as Wolves starter in Ryan Acknoy's position to start next season.
01:28Yeah, and before I talk about Hugo as an individual, Vito will be delighted with the amount of players back, particularly for Portugal,
01:34because I don't think he'll have any full-backs or wing-backs available to him.
01:38Maybe Pedro Lima are best.
01:39Exactly. And Pedro Lima, hopefully, for Portugal.
01:42And that's pretty much it.
01:44I mean, it sounds like Matt Doherty might be getting a little bit of a run-out, a wing-back.
01:47But yeah, I mean, of course, they're going to have to find the solutions for that.
01:50And in the very early stages of pre-season, that doesn't really matter too much,
01:53because it's very normal that you have to give these players that extended time off.
01:58Hugo Bueno and Rodrigo Gomez played for the 21s deep into that competition, as you say, in the Euro Championships.
02:03And it'd be silly, really, not to give them that extended time off, as it happens every year with players that play in European or international competitions.
02:12So that's very normal and the smart thing to do, really, from Wolves' perspective.
02:16And for Hugo, when he does return, as we say, we're expecting that to be when the team return from Portugal back to England.
02:23They've got a friendly against Stoke, friendly against Lombe, and then, of course, they go off to Spain for that weekend as well to play Girona.
02:29So when he's back with them, what he does have in front of him is a massive opportunity.
02:34That's the best way to look at it from Hugo Bueno's perspective.
02:37And I think from the fans' perspective as well, because there will be a little bit of pressure on Hugo to perform and take that opportunity.
02:44But there has to be a realisation that that opportunity is there, because as I reported months ago,
02:48the club were keen to bring Hugo back and give him that chance.
02:53But it does depend how pre-season goes.
02:54We know that the club have been looking in that area for competition, for depth,
03:01for some of the potential signings in those areas with Aitnori leaving the club.
03:05It doesn't necessarily mean they'll look to sign someone to replace Hugo Bueno,
03:09but it does depend on how quickly he takes that opportunity and how quickly he settles in.
03:13I think there's a slightly mixed opinion on him at the moment.
03:17In my opinion, I think he's got some really good qualities, really good crossing ability.
03:22I think he's better defensively than Ryan Aitnori was, and he has got a chance of taking that opportunity.
03:28But there are other people that will think he's probably too good to be a backup
03:32and maybe not quite good enough to take that opportunity to be the starting wingback.
03:37That's where he's now got to try and prove a couple of those people wrong, but also take that chance.
03:43If he does that, Wolves will be in a much better position.
03:45If he doesn't, they've got a massive decision to make.
