**Vitor Pereira**pressed home that the "right mentality" and good "connections" will raise the level for Wolverhampton Wanderers. They must prepare to play Manchester City in the late kickoff on Saturday afternoon, and there is work to do internally before focusing on the outside world.
‘They need to understand the connection’
Wolves have parted ways with two big players. Matheus Cunha, their top scorer, has joined Manchester United, while Rayan Ait-Nouri will be facing his old club on the opening matchday with City. The boss believes his players need time to evolve their identity without these figureheads.
“Every time, to rebuild, to renew myself, the team, to rebuild. We have the players, but we need the connections. We need a clear idea about what we want tactically. We need the right mentality.”
Nelson Semedo also ran down his contract with the club, giving up his duty as captain to sign for Fenerbahce. His presence will be missed, but the manager has a plan to replace his compatriot.
“I spoke about Nelson, an important player inside the group, but we have um other players with qualities to do it and this is what we are trying. I have time to make decisions but now I know. I will decide the four captains and I believe that they can help us a lot in the group, on and off the pitch.”
The Portuguese described his experience working with the newcomers to the squad over the summer.
“They have quality. They need they come from different leagues and this league is special league and they need to firstly they need to understand what we want, out idea and the connection with the other players. Football is about connections about to increase the level and we are trying to do it.”
On the right of the rearguard, the team can call on the quality of Ki-Jana Hoever, who spent last year on loan at **Auxerre**in Ligue 1. The Dutch defender was a welcome surprise for Pereira in preseason.
“Ki will stay with us. I like him, it was a surprise for me because I didn’t know that he was our player. I like him. He has the technique that I like. He's fast, attacks space, is calm, makes good decisions."
The 57-year-old offered his thoughts on two attackers whom he wants to see more of as the weeks pass. One of them, Jhon Arias, was the maverick for the best Brazilian side in the Club World Cup.
"He was in Fluminense for a long time and now it's time to play in our way. He needs sometimes to understand everything tactically and what we demand from him."
The other, Jørgen Strand Larsen, is the highest scorer left in the team now that Cunha has departed.
“I ask him how many years more do you play you will play football? You must enjoy every day.”
Pereira is pushing the Norwegian to nail his attitude as he could step into the role of their talisman.
“It means that he's not about to feel the pressure about 5to be the best player in the world. He's about to enjoy every days to feel free to score to feel free when he doesn't score. But in the end, what I want is I want to see Jorgen fighting for the team, committed with the team, not thinking about himself.”
‘We created a good spirit’
Manchester City are out with a point to prove this year. They had gone four years in a row as the champions of the Premier League, an unparalleled reign of dominance. But they only wrapped up third place on the last day of the 2024/25 season and also were trophyless for the first time since 2017.
Along with Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders will add goals to the midfield for a fee of £46.5 million from AC Milan, and **Rayan Cherki**is a creative genius whom the board has bought for a cut price of £34 million from Lyon. City’s quality could be a primary concern for Pereira, but his focus is on his men.
“I’m looking too much at us because we need to improve some phases of our game. Especially in this in this moment of the season if you start to look more for the opponent teams and less for us it's not possible to improve our game to create the identity that I want.”
The manager made clear that he wants his players to take this test as a way to push their limits.
“If you look at the players they have and they brought this season, fantastic team, fantastic manager. But this is the time to compete for us. It's time to compete. It's time to go there and to show that we are brave that we are connected that we also have quality and that we can play good football also.”
There is also external pressure from the results of preseason. Wolves drew two and were defeated in four of their six outings before this clash with City, losing both their matches in August. The boss has continued to back his side, suggesting that scorelines are not the be-all and end-all of the last month.
"The results were not the results that we expected, but we created a good spirit. We work a lot. We are working a lot to improve the team, to increase the mentality, identity, to help new players understand what we need from them. And this is all good spirit. They are working in the level that I like to see.”
He acknowledged that the fans shall feel flustered if there are no clear observations of progress to make up for poor outcomes. However, Pereira is sure that results can come with more development.
“In the preseason we cannot get points. It's impossible to get points in preseason. But of course if you win games, it gives you confidence. But we know what we are doing. We know that we are in the process to create our identity to rebuild our game. We know the direction. This is most important.”
There will be time to pause and reflect on the life of Diogo Jota, whose death has brought sporting communities together. He was a former marksman for the club of a city who are grieving his loss.
“This is a city with one club. It means it is the club of everybody. We feel the connection in the streets. We feel the connections outside inside the stadium. This is powerful, because we need to be united.”