Rayan Ait-Nouri says being one of Wolves’ longest serving players makes it easier for him to welcome new signings such as Emmanuel Agbadou to the club.
Of the senior professionals in the Molineux dressing room, only Nelson Semedo has been at the club longer than Ait-Nouri, who joined initially on loan from Angers back in October 2020.
Now, the 23-year-old has welcomed fellow French-speaker Agbadou to the club in recent weeks, under a new head coach who also speaks his mother tongue, and for Ait-Nouri, whose English has progressed well, that familiarity to the club is something he can spread to others.
On preparations for Arsenal
“This week we’ve worked hard to be prepared for the game on Saturday. We know it will be a difficult game, but we need to be ready for a home game in front of our supporters. They will be good for us and hopefully we’ll get a good result.
“We are positive. We did very good games [in previous few weeks]. We’ve worked hard with the new manager, and he speaks a lot with us, and he’s put confidence in us. The most important thing now is to take some points. They will be very important, and hopefully we will be good for the next game.”
On working with Pereira
“It's a pleasure to work with him, the staff, they speak a lot with the players. He speaks French and it’s good for me and for the French players. He’s very good tactically, and a very good human also. Hopefully we'll win for him, for the staff, for the fans, and put confidence in the minds of the players.
“My English is not very good, but I want to improve every day. So, to speak French is easier. He gave me some advice and try I to reproduce it on the pitch.”
Back on home turf on Saturday. ⏳ pic.twitter.com/BDfDDRTa9f
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 22, 2025
On feeling settled at the club
“I’ve been here for a long time. I've been here for four years. When you speak with the English people, it’s easier to learn some words and now I feel more confident. I try to improve my English and not speak French in the dressing room, for example. I keep pushing to try to do my best and improve my English.”
On welcoming Agbadou
“With Emmanuel, to be honest, I speak French. It’s easy to speak with him and on the pitch he’s behind me and he can give me some advice with things I can’t see. Toti can also speak French, so it’s easier when Toti or ‘Agba’ play behind me.
“My mentality didn't change, but for sure I'm maybe the longest serving. I try to give some advice to new players. We have Bastien [Meupiyou] also from France. He is very young, and I want to push him, to give him some advice, because it's very important. When I came here, I remember [Romain] Saiss, [Willy] Boly, every time they gave me a lot of advice and I want to do the same with the young players.”
On attention on Arsenal
“We play Arsenal at home. We know it will be a very good game, a difficult game. We know it’s the Premier League, every team is hard to play, but if we can win it will be very good for the confidence, also.
“It will be a big test. When you play a big team, you know the game is hard. It’s the Premier League, every game is hard, and we’ll try our best to win.”
