Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Vitor Pereira says former captain Mario Lemina must decide whether he wants to stay at the club for the remainder of their Premier League relegation battle.
The midfielder is the subject of interest from Saudi club Al Shabab — coincidentally Pereira’s former side — and could leave in the January window.
He is set to miss tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round trip to Bristol City but Pereira says his longer-term future at Molineux will depend on his desire to stay.
“Mario is in a position that now he’s sick,” said Pereira. “I need to understand really if he wants to stay, or if he wants to go, because when you are in the middle of a bridge, it’s a big problem.
“I have dealt with this kind of situation a lot of times, and we need to decide and he needs to decide. The club needs to decide if he stays here because he has the quality to help the team but we must wait to understand what he will do.”
Wolves are aware of Al Shabab’s interest but have yet to receive an offer for the 31-year-old and regardless of his future, Pereira is targeting another defensive-minded playmaker in the January window.
“It is a sector where we need more options,” he said. “The last game showed me that.
“We need to look for a physical midfielder, someone more positional, someone to think about the game defensively, not only to attack. We have this midfielder, but we cannot face the Premier League with short options in the midfield because in my opinion they are the centre of the game.
“They manage the rhythms, the pace, the intensity, everything and we need to have solutions so when I look and see someone tired, I know that I can change and I will keep the level up. It means in that position, in my opinion, we need at least one more solution.”
‘Pereira clearly not happy with his options’
Analysis
At the beginning of the season, central midfield looked like the strongest area of Wolves’ squad.
Andre has signed to join Lemina, Joao Gomes, Tommy Doyle, Boubacar Traore and potentially even Jean-ricner Bellegarde for places in the centre of midfield.
But a few months on, Pereira is clearly not happy with the options available.
Lemina’s obvious desire to move on, combined with the latest injury that has hampered Traore’s efforts to establish himself, have not helped.
And if Lemina does leave — and Wolves are not expected to stand in his way if the right offer is received — then with Traore still making his way back, numbers will be unexpectedly short.
But even so, it appears that Pereira’s issue is more about the profile of the players.
He is a fan of Andre’s role, sitting deep in midfield, protecting the back four and playing early passes, but the Brazil international’s absence from the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest highlighted that he does not have a natural understudy.
That is the vacancy Pereira now wants to fill.
(Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
