Vitor Pereira delivers honest opinion on Nelson Semedo and Wolves captaincy update

The 31-year-old has spent five years at Wolves and became captain in December, but saw his contract expire last month.

Wolves have had a new four-year deal on the table for Semedo since May, but the player asked for time to consider his decision.

That decision is yet to be communicated publicly by the player, but Wolves have been planning for life without him for some time, and Pereira has now said for the first time that the club are seeking 'solutions' elsewhere.

"The relationship that I have with Nelson, we have been, from the beginning, very honest," the head coach said in a sit down interview with the Express & Star.

"He said to me that maybe it's time, after five years here, to find another challenge and I understand.

"But I need to feel that he's honest with me. I prefer to know the truth from the beginning.

"Then, waiting and waiting and waiting. We cannot wait. 

"I like Nelson a lot. That's why the club has a lot of respect and offered him a very good contract. 

"But at the end of the day, we need to look for our club. We need to look for our future.

"This is the time to find a good solution."

Wolves will also need to consider who the next captain will be, with the club facing the likelihood of losing their skipper for the fourth summer in a row.

Both Toti Gomes and Matt Doherty wore the armband in a training game against Santa Clara in Portugal, while Toti wore it against Burnley on Saturday.

Pereira says he will take his time to select the new captain to ensure he makes the right decision.

He added: "Nelson was a very, very good captain because he helped us a lot to find the solutions, to connect the team, to connect the team with the supporters, to connect the team with the club, with everyone.

"Because he's a player with a personality that he wants the best for the club. 

"Now, when I need to select the captains, I give time. I'm not hurrying, I'm looking.

"I'm trying to be aware, to understand and I listen to players, trying to have a good decision to select the captains."

When asked if he would like players to come to him and express their desire to be the new captain, Pereira added: "It's more than what we think about it.

"Imagine, I ask you, what do you think? What do you feel? Who are the leaders here?

"Sometimes I ask you and you have an opinion and I ask him and he has another opinion. 

"I need the information, I need to think about it.

"It's like my staff. When I started my career, sometimes they start to give their opinion and they speak too loud because they want to affirm that this is the right thing.

"Do you know what I do now? When they start to speak and to have different opinions, I leave the meeting and I go for a coffee.

"They stay there talking, because they have a lot of energy, in the end I'm here to listen and in the end I decide.

"Sometimes you need to give space. You need to give space to go out of the box, to analyse everything, to have a decision."