Matheus Nunes' sending off from the bench against Leeds United yesterday typified the start to his Wolverhampton Wanderers career.

What's happened to Nunes at Wolves?

The Portuguese midfielder was signed for a club-record fee in the summer by Bruno Lage but has done very little to justify his price tag thus far, and has been relegated to the beach for recent fixtures by Julen Lopetegui.

Even with Wolves chasing the game in a relegation six-pointer against Leeds on Saturday, the former Sporting Lisbon man was left on the bench, which suggests that the Spanish manager simply doesn't trust him to have an attacking impact on the game.

Nunes, who earns £85k-per-week at Molineux, would still make his mark however, as he received a red card in the dying moments after being deemed to have pushed the linesman, and could now face three games out at a crucial period of the season.

Journalist Liam Keen criticised the 24-year-old's performance against Bournemouth in a recent podcast for the Express and Star, saying:

"The crossfield passes, and 10-yard passes that were totally out of bounds, were just not good enough unfortunately, and it's not because he isn't good enough or doesn't have the talent, it was that he was just allowing the game to pass him by, he knew he was better than the players around him.

"That's a dangerous precedent to set. You cannot think that 'right I'm head and shoulders above the players around me.' And that's what it looked like for me, and that meant that he got punished."

That was evident once again on Saturday as Nunes was clearly frustrated by being left on the bench and managed to cost his team without ever setting foot on the pitch, with that limiting Lopetegui's midfield options even further for upcoming fixtures.

Since joining in the summer, the Portugal international has managed no goals and just one assist in 25 Premier League appearances, with WhoScored awarding him a shocking 6.54 rating for his performances.

This ranks him as the eighth-best performer at Molineux this season, which is disappointing given his price tag and reputation before joining Wolves, with Pep Guardiola ranking him as "one of the best players in the world" after Manchester City beat Sporting in the Champions League last year.

It would be a bold decision by Lopetegui to get rid of Nunes so early into his Wolves career but considering his awful attitude, poor performances and the reported interest being shown in him by Liverpool and Chelsea, Lopetegui might be best served by cashing in on the record signing rather than letting him rot on the bench.