Wolves boss Vitor Pereira slams his own player and says he 'doesn't need' him in astonishing rant

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Vitor Pereira unleashed on his own player after their defeat by Newcastle United.

The Magpies' recent fine form continued at St. James' Park as they dominated Wolves from start to finish.

Alexander Isak was the star of the show again as he scored twice before assisting Anthony Gordon's goal to secure a 3-0 win for Eddie Howe's side.

As a result, Newcastle moved up to fourth in the Premier League table, ahead of Chelsea.

After the match, Wolves boss Pereira was quizzed on why midfielder Mario Lemina was omitted from the matchday squad.

Pereira then began an astonishing rant as he revealed all, he said: "I can't bring a player who tells me he is not in the mental condition to help the team. He wants to leave.

"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."

The Wolves boss continued: "I don't have nothing against Lemina or any issues with him.

"He said to me that he wants to leave and he communicated this decision one month ago to the club."

Lemina first joined Wolves back in January 2023 from French side Nice for an undisclosed fee.

Since moving back to the Premier League, the Gabon international became a key player for Wolves, scoring six goals in 77 matches.

Mario Lemina faces an uncertain future at Wolves. Image: Getty

At the start of the campaign, Lemina was the club captain. However, after an altercation with West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen, then-manager Gary O'Neil stripped him of the captaincy.

Explaining the decision, O'Neil said: "We've decided to move the captaincy to Nelson and Nelson will captain the group from now on.

"Of course, the other night sparked the conversation, but it was an important conversation that had to be had. Mario and myself have a good understanding now of how we move forward and what it looks like.

"We've spoken a lot this week - me, Mario and some of the other senior players. What happened after the game can't happen."

Wolves will return to Premier League action on Monday when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.