5 players from the Championship who could light up the Premier League in 2018/19

#3 Ruben Neves

Ruben Neves has been a key player in Wolves' promotion push

One of the most curious signings of 2017’s summer was the move of Ruben Neves from Porto to Wolves. The deep-lying Portuguese playmaker had risen to fame by becoming the youngest player to ever captain a Champions League team in 2015 at just 18, and he’d been linked with the likes of Liverpool, making his move to the Midlands side seem strange.

It’s all worked out for him, though, as Wolves have romped to the Championship title, finishing the season with a total of 99 points – 9 ahead of their nearest rivals Cardiff City. And Neves has arguably been their key man, appearing in 42 of their 46 games and pulling the strings in the midfield, allowing Wolves to dominate most of their opponents.

A tremendous passer of the ball, Neves has also shown a penchant for long-range strikes, as all 6 of his league goals this season have come from outside the box – including a thunderbolt against promotion rivals Derby County in April. Simply put, Neves is a fantastic midfielder whose all-action style belies his age of just 21.

The fears from Wolves fans were that he’d simply use the club as a shop window to move to a larger side, but as of writing that doesn’t seem to be the case – Neves has recently stated that he wants to remain at Wolves to take on the Premier League, and judging on this season’s showings who’d bet against the Portuguese midfielder? It simply seems a given that he’ll succeed massively in England’s top division.