He is set to be joined at Old Trafford by Cristiano Ronaldo, with United having agreed a deal with Juventus for the forward's return to the club.

Wolves will not have to deal with Ronaldo this weekend when they host United at Molineux, but Lage – who faced Fernandes when in charge of Sporting's rivals Benfica – knows his side have their work cut out with his international teammate.

He said: "The way he was at Sporting and the way Manchester United play, it was the right player to come for the team. He fitted the way they play, he created a dynamic the team needs.

"We played a lot of times against him, four or five times because we played for the championship and for the cup.

"He is a top player, what he did at Sporting was very good. He was the most important player in the team, sometimes we played against them and he played in different positions.

"Sometimes he played on the wing, sometimes in front of the two midfielders, other times side by side. He is an important player, he can do everything.

"When I was there I always said good things about him because he can do everything. It is very hard to play against him but he will know it's very hard to play against my team.

"He can create a lot of changes, run between the defenders, shoot from outside. He's a talented player and works hard for the team when they don't have the ball."