Watch Wolves against Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 2pm on Sunday; Kick-off is 3pm
Saturday 11 May 2019 07:56, UK
Wolves are aiming to shock Liverpool at Anfield on Super Sunday, but their ambitions do not end there. Jonny Otto, their £18m left-back and Spain international, tells Sky Sports about the project which enticed him to Molineux and his seamless adaptation to the Premier League.
Wolves are nearing the end of their first season back in the Premier League. They face title-chasing Liverpool on Sunday knowing their seventh-placed finish is already assured. But on a hectic Friday afternoon at their Compton Park headquarters, there is little evidence that things are winding down.
On the contrary, the place is a hive of activity. The ground staff are carefully tending to the training pitches in front of the main building. Members of their title-winning U23 squad are buzzing around clutching their newly-delivered winners' medals. And in the room adjacent to reception, Nuno Espirito Santo is hosting a busy press conference.
The Wolves manager will tell assembled journalists that Anfield holds no fear for his side, that they are desperate to finish their fantastic season on a high, and in a quiet corner nearby, Jonny Otto exudes the same focus and determination. Liverpool must hope Manchester City drop points. But they must also beat a Wolves side who have no intention of rolling over.
"We know it's going to be a very difficult game for us," Jonny tells Sky Sports. "Liverpool are a very strong team, they are fighting for the league, they are in the Champions League final and they are going to be at their stadium. But it's going to be difficult for them too. We already know we are finishing seventh, but we are ambitious. We are going there to win."
Wolves are entitled to fancy their chances. Nuno's side have already beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup this season. They have held Manchester City to a draw and beaten all of Manchester United (twice), Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal. It is only a year since their promotion from the Championship, but they are in a hurry to establish themselves as a Premier League force.
It's that ambition which brought Jonny here.
The 25-year-old joined Wolves on loan last summer immediately after completing a transfer from his boyhood club Celta Vigo to Atletico Madrid. His arrival did not prompt as much excitement as those of Raul Jimenez or Joao Moutinho, but his impact in the West Midlands was such that Wolves pushed through a permanent deal worth a club-record £18m in January.
It has proved a shrewd piece of business. Many Wolves fans were unimpressed when Barry Douglas was sold to Leeds following last year's promotion, but Jonny looked an upgrade at left wing-back right from the start of the season. He has made 31 Premier League starts, becoming a key component of the stingiest defence outside of the top six.
"I am very happy," he says. "It has been a great year both on a collective and individual level. We are seventh, so you can say we are first among the mortals - after the big six. It's a shame we couldn't reach the FA Cup final, but the team is growing and getting great results.
"For me, right now, the Premier League is the best league in the world. The change from La Liga is brutal, but I always said I wanted to try it and I'm glad I have. Wolves were a newly-promoted team, but I saw that there was a lot of progression, and above all that they were signing world-class players. There was a lot of ambition and that convinced me to come here.
"Atleti are one of the best clubs in the world, so yes, you could say it's a shame not to have actually played for them, but my priority is always that myself and my family are happy - and we are very happy. It's best not to worry about what could have happened if things had turned out differently. This club put a lot of trust in me and I want to pay them back."
Jonny has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Wolves, so it is a good thing that he already feels at home off the pitch. His English is not yet strong enough for interviews - this one is conducted in his native language - but he and his young family have enjoyed exploring the country in his free time and there is plenty of Spanish spoken in the dressing room, too.
"That's what has helped me a lot," he says. "There are a lot of Spanish-speakers in the team and, being from Galicia, which is next to Portugal, I can also understand the Portuguese players. I think it would have been more difficult if I was suddenly only surrounded by English players. I'm working on the language. But the city, the people... I have liked it all since I arrived."
Jonny has been one of Wolves' most consistent performers this year, impressing with his tenacious defending and tidiness in possession, and his impact is all the more impressive when you consider he is a naturally right-footed player. Luis Enrique switched him from right-back to left-back during the 2013/14 season at Celta and he has stayed there ever since.
Jonny now regards the 49-year-old, who handed him his Spain debut in the 4-1 win over Wales in October, as one of his biggest influences.
"He is a very special manager with a lot of personality. In that year at Celta, he didn't count on me much at the beginning, but then I became a regular. He's a manager who knows what he wants at every moment. He tries to get the best out of every player and almost always manages it."
Luis Enrique likes Jonny for his attitude as well as his ability, and those mental attributes have certainly helped him during his transition from La Liga to the Premier League. How does he feel English football differs?
"It depends how you look at it," he says. "With the GPS systems in football now, the players cover more or less the same amount of ground and register the same speeds in both countries, but I think the games here are more demanding.
"The play is a lot more vertical in the Premier League, so you have to pay more attention throughout the game. It's more difficult to find a moment to relax because you are always attacking or defending. That verticality, that directness, is the biggest difference with Spain I think. You have to be at 100 per cent at all times."
That directness is typified by Liverpool.
Jonny is speaking just a few hours after Jurgen Klopp confirmed Mohamed Salah will be fit to start on Sunday. He counts the Egyptian as one of the toughest opponents he has faced this season along with Eden Hazard, Bernardo Silva and, perhaps surprisingly, Daniel Sturridge, but he insists there are no plans for special treatment at Anfield.
"Any player who is very skilful and very fast is difficult to defend against, but all the Liverpool forwards, whether it's Salah, whether it's [Divock] Origi, they are all good players. When you face a team like that, you have to enjoy the challenge."
Jonny has certainly enjoyed working with Nuno. The Wolves boss has been nominated for the Premier League manager of the year award alongside Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino, and his presence on the shortlist comes as no surprise to his players.
"He is a manager who is close to his players but who also tells us exactly what he expects from every one of us," says Jonny.
"He is an ambitious and serious person who tries to get the best possible performances out of us all. He is always trying to make sure we are switched on, that what we do in training carries onto the pitch during matches, and that we don't deviate from our identity. The identity of the team is what he cares about most."
Nuno has fostered a strong team spirit at Wolves - "we are like a little family," says Jonny - and there are likely to be more additions to the squad this summer as the club's Chinese owners work towards their goal of breaking into the Premier League's top six and ultimately challenging for major honours.
"That's the ambition," says Jonny. "I hope to fight with the top six for those places soon, and I'm sure that if it wasn't for our results against teams below us in the table this season, we would already be there because against the big teams directly, we have done very well. Maybe that is where we need to improve the most, in games against the smaller teams."
Before that, though, there is the not-so-small matter of Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. It is an opportunity for Wolves, and their right-footed left-back, to make their biggest statement yet.
Will Wolves stun Liverpool? Find out live on Sky Sports Premier League from 2.00pm on Sunday. Kick-off is at 3.00pm.
