‘I don’t need him’ – Wolves star’s future thrown into chaos after Vitor Pereira’s stunning rant about his mentality

New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has left Mario Lemina out to dry in a stunning rant about his captain.

The Portuguese coach brought in the midfielder, who was a surprise absentee for his side’s 3-0 loss to Newcastle.

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Almost a guaranteed starter for Wolves, the Gabon international’s name was not on the pre-match squad sheet and Pereira waited until after the match to reveal all.

He said: “I cannot bring a player who comes to me and says he is not mentally able to help the team, ‘I want to leave’.

“I don’t know what happened before me, but with this energy and mentality, I don’t need him. I prefer to play another player.

“I don’t know what happened before me, but with this energy and this mentality, I don’t need him. I prefer to play with another player.”

Pereira went on to add: “I don’t have anything against Lemina or any issues with him.

“He told me he wanted to leave and he announced this decision a month ago to the club.”

Only four Wolves players have played more Premier League games than Lemina’s 17 this season.

Lemina was club captain under Gary O’Neil and one of the Midlands team’s most important players just a few weeks ago.

talkSPORT understands the 31-year-old is keen on a move to Pereira’s former club Al Shabab, but an official bid is yet to come in from the Saudi club.

It is understood that Wolves want £5million for the player, whose contract expires in the summer, although there is an option to trigger his deal by a further year.

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A former Southampton player, he joined Wolves from Nice in 2023 and has scored six goals in 77 games.

Without Lemina, Wolves slumped to another defeat, with a brace from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon’s strike seeing the visitors leave the North East empty-handed.

The 3-0 result moved them below Ipswich on goal difference and into the relegation zone.

Pereira’s time at Molineux began impressively with back-to-back wins over Leicester and Manchester United with five goals scored and none conceded.

Yet it has been the other way around in his last two in the league, losing 3-0 to Nottingham Forest before today’s hammering.

Pereira has already received a reinforcement this window, with Emmanuel Agbadou arriving from Stade Reims and thrust straight into first-team action.