Wolves goalkeeper Tom King has sung the praises of one of his teammates, admitting he had heard a lot about him before they both came to Molineux.
In recent times, the Wolves dressing room has become a very healthy place.
At the end of Bruno Lage’s tenure it was fractured, with the players having lost faith in the manager months before his actual sacking in October 2022.
Since then, emphasis has been placed on restoring harmony and adding the right characters.
In January 2023, some key players were signed and not just for their contributions on the pitch. The additions of Mario Lemina and Craig Dawson were particularly significant for Wolves.
But Wanderers also brought in Dan Bentley, a player Tom King is very fond of.
Tom King hails ‘unbelievable guy’ Dan Bentley and shares how he’s different to Jose Sa
Lemina and Dawson are often credited with being the catalyst behind Wolves’ improvement in the second half of 2022/23 under Julen Lopetegui.
But Bentley, signed at the same time as them from Bristol City, has proven to be a really good signing as well.
While some still have reservations about him as number two to Sa, his contributions behind the scenes have been plentiful. The star is part of the leadership group at Compton Park, and is constantly pushing Sa to be the best he can be.
King greatly admires Bentley, and admits that he actually knew of him before the pair became teammates at Molineux.
Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “The biggest thing I want to touch on is the mentality of these lads. The mentality of lads that have come to the Premier League at a young age and are going to stay in the Premier League for a long time.
“Just to pick up as much as I can off these people as quickly as possible. Like Sa for example, the way he handles success and failure. Bents, heard a lot about him in my career. But to know him, unbelievable guy as well. So I’m learning off him as well, and his mentality which is, by the way, very different to Sa’s.”
Bentley has proven to be an excellent addition
Bentley has only made nine appearances to his name for Wolves.
He is very much the deputy to Sa, although O’Neil doesn’t feel there is a big gap between him and Sa, but he has definitely made for a good signing.
It is so important to ensure that you have leaders in the dressing room, and Bentley is most definitely that.
You get a sense of what he is all about when he is interviewed. He constantly talks about becoming the number one and pushing Sa to his best level and that just shows the kind of mentality he has.
It is very encouraging to hear King say about how he tries to learn from him.