Next week Andre will link up with the Brazilian national team and his performances for Wolves of late have been worthy of his great footballing nation.
Wolves’ shirt number seven has made the number six position his own at Molineux this season, and his performances under Vitor Pereira, particularly in the past month, show exactly why Matt Hobbs and Wolves were so excited to secure the midfielder’s signature during the dying embers of the summer transfer window last August.
Signed on deadline day from Fluminense, Andre had only ever represented his boyhood club. Yet, 24 hours after landing in the UK, he made himself available for his Premier League debut. That substitute appearance at Nottingham Forest told us everything we needed to know about the commitment of a player who has needed little time to settle in England.
As the Old Gold chalked up another point against Everton on Saturday night, Andre won the possession back 11 times in the midfield third – a record for a Premier League match this season. His awarding of the Player of the Match award in the dressing room afterwards was inevitable.
The decision was echoed by a former Old Gold midfielder with an engine of his own, Dave Edwards. Edwards, who now covers Wolves regularly in his punditry role and is the co-host on the Wolves Unpacked podcast, ran out of superlatives when describing Andre.
“He's become indispensable to Wolves,” Edwards said. “When he signed, we had a lot of central midfielders, so we were wondering how he would fit in, and maybe we struggled to find the right position for him, but you can see now the price we paid for him, it’s an absolute bargain.
“He's been going from strength to strength. Under the new management and the system they’re playing in particular, it just really suits the way Andre plays. Vitor Pereira’s spoke a lot about that central midfield area, that you need to be athletic, you need to be connected with your midfield partner, you have to be able to handle the ball and he does all those things in abundance.
“He is one of the best number sixes in the league, there's no doubt about that. He really is at the top end of ballplaying central midfielders who starts attacks. I've been delighted to see how much he's improved since he's come in, how effective he's now becoming for Wolves, and now how important he is. I'm looking forward to seeing many more games of Andre dictating the play for Wolves.”
Wolves had 65.5 per cent of the possession against the Toffee on Saturday, and with 92 touches coming via the blue Nike Tiempo boots of Andre, his involvement was clear. The midfielder regularly demanded the ball in tight areas, surrounded by Everton shirts, knowing he was creating space for his teammates.
That dominant performance from Andre, who constantly had his side on the front foot with his bravery in possession, nudged Edwards to consult Mat Pearson, the club’s head of performance insights for data. The result? Andre is 99th percentile for both passes completed and pressured passes completed of players with 1,000 minutes in Europe’s top five leagues this season, putting the Brazilian up there with the elite in possession, particularly under pressure.
“He's key to everything that Wolves do, because they build out through the back, and to create those overloads in the attacking third, to get the likes of [Goncalo] Guedes, [Jean-Ricner] Bellegarde and [Matheus] Cunha on the ball in dangerous areas, it means that somewhere in that process a player is going to handle the ball under pressure, with opposition players trying to overload them. He is so gifted at receiving the ball under pressure and manoeuvring it out of those areas into more space for the next player. He makes it look so easy.
“You can be thinking it's just a simple pass, but it takes bravery and intelligence to go and receive the balls in those areas, back to goal, knowing that you’re being pressed, knowing that a mistake will result in an opportunity for the opposition, because of how Wolves play. But his ball retention, as we saw against Everton, is just magnificent. Only simple passes, five, ten-yard passes, but he really takes care of every single one.
“There's also the scanning he does before to know where the space is that he can then release the ball into. He's so pivotal to the way that Wolves build out from the back. He really is the heartbeat of Wolves in possession and will make other players look better because of his awareness, giving them the ball in more space.
“What I really liked was after the Bournemouth game Vitor Pereira said that there was so much more from Andre to come on the ball. He does pass the ball forward, he's a progressive passer and likes to break lines, but he spoke about being able to switch play and hit those diagonal passes that we saw from Ruben Neves. He must have got the memo because against Everton he hit eight successful diagonal passes, not just into areas, hitting the wing back on the chest from 50, 60 yards away. He’s got a really terrific range of passing, so I think he's just going to keep adding these layers to his game.”
Edwards played more than 300 times in the Wolves midfield, on 61 occasions in the Premier League, and knowing the intensity of the division, particularly in an era where winning possession via pressing is on the rise, Andre’s bravely can’t be overstated, says the former Wales international.
“As a player who wasn't as technically blessed as a lot of central midfielders, I can't state how difficult it is to receive the ball in tight areas, knowing that you've got players who are wanting you to receive it because they want to press. If I'm the opposition, I'm thinking, ‘Go and play it into Andre because I'm going to jump and press him’. But he's that comfortable and aware of what's around him, he plays his way of trouble.
“There will be a time where he gives the ball away, that's football, that happens, but the consistency is terrific. Whilst a lot of players will get the plaudits for the goals and the assists, if you look back two, three, four passes, it could very well come from Andre receiving it in those areas, to then getting into space and starting attacks. He's pivotal. I can’t explain how difficult it is to do what he does on a football pitch, and then you put it into a Premier League game. At home, it can be easier with your own crowd behind you, but away from home, in difficult atmospheres, being able to do it is really good.”
Matheus Cunha and Andre have been selected in the latest @CBF_Futebol squad 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/44P4fhFVPn
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 6, 2025
Following the trip to St Mary’s on Saturday, Andre, joined by Matheus Cunha, will cross the Atlantic Ocean for World Cup qualifiers with Colombia and Argentina. Two of the most toughly contested fixtures on the South American football calendar.
While the Brazilians will, naturally, be easy on the eye, there will be requirements of Andre in the defensive department. For Edwards, the 23-year-old’s reading of the game means he’s almost defended attacks before they’ve arrived, which in turn complements the game of midfield colleague Joao Gomes, who has been given more licence to get forward and double last season’s goal scoring tally already.
“A lot of Wolves fans will look at Andre for his defensive capabilities, which he's magnificent at and he compliments Joao Gomes really well. He's not someone who really aggressively presses like Joao to win the ball back, his win backs are more from his understanding of the game, his anticipation. The way he reads it, he cuts off passing lines for the opposition. He's a very, very clever footballer. He anticipates in those moments when he can jump and win the ball, and he does it so effectively.
“He adds a lot of balance in the team. It allows the likes of Joao Gomes to go roaming, Bellegarde or [Marshall] Munetsi to go roaming and know that they've always got the safety net of Andre behind them. He controls the middle of the pitch extremely well. He very rarely gets caught in wide areas, unless it's covering in our own defensive third, which he does extremely well, to go and help the centre backs out.
“He did it really well in the game against Bournemouth in the Premier League, I was down at that game, and the amount of times that Bournemouth broke into the channels and he was there mopping up, winning the tackle and stopping attacks before they could create any sort of chances. That's his reading of the game, but also that unselfish nature to go and help out those outside centre backs, to make sure the back three can stay connected and they don't get dragged around. Out of possession, obviously, he's brilliant.”
Given his tasks on the pitch, we’re yet to see Andre score for Wolves yet – aside from a successful shootout penalty at Bournemouth – celebrations, however, are a different matter. First seen celebrating a big tackle on David Brooks, with Wolves’ Premier League win at Bournemouth needing protection, the Brazilian was at it again on Saturday night, after dispossessing Everton’s Tim Iroegbunam.
It’s an infectious attitude too. Joao Gomes similarly enjoying the supposed ugly side of the game at Molineux at the weekend. For Edwards, it all culminates in a player Wolves should be extremely happy to have on their side.
“I could talk about Andre all day. Very rarely do you see so much passion for defensive actions. He celebrates it like a goal, because, in reality, it’s as big as a goal, because he's stopping an attack, a moment for the opposition. It's great to see it means so much to do that side of the game because everybody wants to be the goal scorer, everybody wants to be the person creating and doing the tricks, but to take so much pride in that defensive work is magnificent, and every team needs players who do that.
“You can't just have a team of tricksters and flare players. You have to have an Andre in the team who is such an important cog in the wheel. He wins the ball back so many times. A lot of the time it's after we've had an attack, it breaks down, and then he's there to pick up the pieces and we start another attack. That just keeps the opposition under pressure and that's so important.
“You can see Vitor Pereira does not want these games to be turned into a basketball game, where it's they attack, we attack. Against Everton, after Everton had that breakaway chance when Jose Sa made the save, the roar of Molineux was trying to go and attack again, but Pereira was completely the other way. He was slowing everyone down, because he wanted to build our way into the Everton half and then keep Everton in that half for as long as possible. He didn’t want this basketball game and Andre, from the defensive point of view, is so important.
“He positions himself in such a way that when it does break down, he's usually the first on the scene to counter press and win it back for his team. When you've got athleticism like Gomes and Bellegarde around and him, it certainly helps. Wolves have got a really nice balance in there.”
Saturday’s trip to Southampton is the start of the final ten for Wolves. Their target at this stage of the campaign is clear, and the influence of Andre, both in and out of possession, will only aid their hopes.
