It may feel as if Joao Moutinho has been pulling strings since the days when the beautiful game was played in mud baths but even this most evergreen of footballers can’t defy Father Time forever.
This time next year, Molineux’s midfield maestro will be 35 and it’s difficult to imagine Wolverhampton Wanderers aren’t at least thinking about life without their Portuguese playmaker.
After all, this is a club that prides itself on snapping up some of the most talented prospects from across the globe – from some of the biggest teams across the globe, no less.
And with The Sun (12 October, page 61) suggesting Wolves could do to Bayern Munich what they did to Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Porto and others with Angelo Stiller the latest left-field target, Moutinho’s long-term successor could be wearing old gold within three short months.
“How Xabi Alonso plays is fantastic. I would also like to play that way. Or like Toni Kroos, who only plays with one or two touches of the ball,” Stiller told Kicker earlier in the year after helping Bayern’s B team win the German third-tier title for the first time in their history.
“This is my style of play, how I see football and the game.”
Moutinho would approve.
The 125-time Portugal international has made a career out of intelligent, considered distribution and, with 15 trophies to his name for club and country, what a career it has been.
No-one at Molineux would expect a 19-year-old without a first-team appearance to immediately take Moutinho’s place as the beating heart of Nuno’s midfield.
But clearly Stiller is a man who understands what makes footballers like Moutinho so special.
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