Moutinho hopes his ‘winning mentality’ will be a big help

LONDON: Joao Moutinho believes his winning mentality can help Wolverhampton Wanderers become a Premier League side to be reckoned with after he joined the Midlands club from Monaco.

The 31-year-old Portugal midfielder has signed a two-year contract.

Newly-promoted Wolves, whose six-year wait for a return to the Premier League ended when they won the Championship title last season, did not disclose a fee.

But British media reports said Moutinho, who helped Portugal win Euro 2016, had joined in a move worth £5mil (RM26mil).

Moutinho arrives at Molineux having won France’s Ligue 1 title with Monaco last year. He also won a trio of titles in Portugal’s Primeira Liga with Porto, along with the 2011 Europa League.

His arrival at Wolves sees him joining up with goalkeeper Rui Patricio after the pair played together for Portugal at the recently concluded World Cup in Russia.

“I’m very excited it’s a new experience with a great club,” Moutinho told Wolves’ website. “I hope to help the club achieve their objectives. And I want to help the team, the players and club to progress.

“I hope we can win all the games. I know it’s very difficult with big teams in Premier League but our mentality, my mentality is to play every game to win and I hope with my experience and my quality as a team we can achieve our goals and our objectives.

Meanwhile Moutinho backed himself to adjust to playing in a new country, having already made one such move when leaving Portugal for Monaco, particularly as he would have two compatriots close by in Patricio and Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

“I hope they are going to help,” Moutinho said. “It’s the second time I move country. I changed Portugal to France and France to England. “