Fuste promoted to Head Physio as Wolves revamp performance & medical

Fuste has been with the club for seven years, arriving at a time when the club were beginning to sign a lot of Portuguese players. He replaces Ben Macdonald, who joined Wolves in August 2021 from British Cycling, where he was also Head Physio.

Head of High Performance Phil Hayward said: “We recruited Rui from Portugal when we had a number of Portuguese players and were looking for somebody who had a good understanding of how those players like to work to make sure we met their needs.Left to right: Gregg Jones, Rui Fuste and Sam Cook

“He’s been a great member of staff, has really developed his clinical practice, but also demonstrated strong management and leadership skills too. He’s really helped develop the other physios in the department, so this summer was an opportunity to give him the recognition we think he deserves and promote him into a senior leadership role.

“I’ve been in football for a long time in this country and seen a lot of UK-based physios and Rui works in a slightly different way. With his skillset, coming from a Portuguese background with different training and experiences, he adds a different facet to our department, which not many other clubs have.

“We’ve got a multicultural playing group, who need to be treated and rehabbed in a variety of ways, and it’s important that we recognise that and can offer them what they need, so when they’re injured, they get the treatment they feel gets them get back as quickly as possible.

“In addition, it’s been great to see how he brings on the British physios, who have been trained in the domestic education system which has different focus points.”

In addition, Gregg Jones has joined from Shrewsbury Town as First Team Soft Tissue Therapist.

Hayward said: “Gregg started with us at the beginning of this calendar year. He’s in charge of our soft tissue therapy around training and matches, so he works very closely alongside the physios and Kai Win, our doctor.

“He has great techniques and adds another facet to our breadth of treatments.”

And Sam Cook has arrived from Bristol City as First Team Physical Performance Coach.

“This is a new role, and we feel with his skillset he’s going to be a great addition not only in the gym, but also on the grass with the injured players,” Hayward said.

“Sam will help deliver strength and conditioning work with the players and also help with the on-field conditioning of both the fit players and injured players. He’ll help across those areas – making sure the lads maintain optimal fitness levels, but also supporting in the rehab of the injured players, particularly on the grass for the last stages of their rehab before they return to training.”