Gary O'Neil gives verdict on Wolves loan move

The Spaniard has joined the Dutch side on a season-long loan for more game time after a frustrating year.

There is no option for Feyenoord to buy Bueno permanently and O’Neil says his future is with Wolves.

“I think it will be good for him,” O’Neil said when asked about Bueno’s loan move.

“I would have loved to have kept him as one of our left-backs, but Rayan’s been fantastic for us for a while and Hugo feels that he doesn’t want to sit behind Rayan, wait for him to slip up or wait for him to get injured to get some football.

“He wants to go play but he understands that his future is here.

“He’s only going away to play and not to leave. He goes away for this season to play good level football.

“From a selfish point of view it would be much better for me if he was here in case something happened, but we need to understand where he’s at and playing football regularly will help him.

“He’ll go on loan for the season, come back next year and be one of our left-backs again.”

With time left in the transfer window to make additions, O’Neil would like to directly replace Bueno but admits other positions require attention first.

“There’s other areas at the minute that we need to do,” O’Neil added.

“I would love to potentially add one more if everything goes to plan.

“Toti can cover there, but we definitely need to add a defender somewhere across the line and probably at centre-back.

“Depending how well we’re able to do things over the next few weeks, it’s possible we add two (defenders). We’ll see.”

With Bueno's loan move now announced by both clubs, sporting director Matt Hobbs echoed O'Neil's thoughts that the defender will return to Wolves to challenge.

Hobbs said: “It’s a situation that works for all. Some people might think we’re leaving ourselves short, but we’ve got a number of players who can cover in that area of the pitch and it’s really important for us and Hugo that he goes and plays.

“Feyenoord are a club playing Champions League football, in a good league, are well known for developing players and have been great throughout. For us, it feels like the perfect club for him to go to develop and we’re looking forward to seeing him develop over the next year.

“Rayan was unbelievable last year, and Hugo was really understanding – he’s a great pro, trains hard every day, works hard, and when players are like that, and we feel it’s the right deal and right club, you want to it make happen. He played a lot, then injuries took him out the team, then we had a change of manager and Rayan hit form, so it’s an important season for him to get football.

“Picking the right team, the right environment, playing the right way was important. European football is obviously brilliant, because that’s going to test him, and it’s a club we know will look after him and give him opportunities. There was other interest, big clubs, but we felt the league and the club works well for what we wanted.

“The plan is for him to play lots and come back next year and force his way into the team, creating competition. I think everyone would accept when we’re trying to develop a player, with the minutes he got last year, it’s hard. We wanted to find a solution and he’ll come back next season and compete again, but that’s easier to do on the back of playing 40 games in another league.”