🦁 Premier League Player of the Week: André the Giant | OneFootball

Liverpool moved closer to the Premier League title, Nottingham Forest gave their Champions League hopes a huge boost and Cole Palmer's perfect penalty record came to an end over the weekend.

Our standout player from the action is...

André (Wolves)

When Wolves hosted Everton on Saturday night, there was concern among the home support about how they would cope without their Brazilian talisman.

But with Matheus Cunha serving the first game of his suspension, it was another Seleçao star who stepped up in his absence and grabbed some of the limelight for himself with an outstanding performance.

That man was midfielder André, who is now really showing his qualities after an initial adaptation period following his arrival late last summer from Fluminense in a deal worth a reported £18.5m before add-ons.

His talents were never in doubt, given that the 23-year-old had already received five Brazil caps and won the Copa Libertadores and after settling in, the Molineux faithful are now seeing the best of him.

In the 1-1 draw with Everton, he completed 72 of 74 passes with no player who started for either side enjoying a more successful percentage, while also winning more duels (nine) than any other man in the old gold.

There are few central midfielders in the division as calm under pressure when receiving the ball and he displayed all of that brilliance once more and when he did use the ball, broke out his full range of passing excellence.

His tigerish pursuit of possession when Everton had the ball also resulted in him setting a Premier League record this season.

His lack of minutes, even in an adjustment period, under Gary O'Neil seems all the more baffling.

André has been a man reborn under Vitor Pereira and a strong case could be made that he has been their most important player under the new coach - as evidenced by his showing against Everton.

It is therefore no surprise to see him called up for his country for March's internationals - no mean feat given the quality of competition in that area.

But with his ability to cover every blade of grass and quality with and without the ball, it is well deserved for a man who is the archetype of the modern midfielder.

Cunha now has serious competition for Brazilian cult hero in the midlands.

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