Not only has Wolves’ 2025/26 season been a difficult experience for all the players, staff and supporters, but Jose Sa believes the campaign has been the most mentally tough of his entire career.
The Portuguese goalkeeper is one of the most senior and experienced players in Rob Edwards’ squad. Now in his fifth year as a member of the Old Gold, having moved to Molineux from Olympiacos back in 2021, Sa has experienced the highs and lows of Premier League football during his stint in the Black Country.
Wolves’ Player of the Season in his first campaign in English football, Sa was first-choice number one for his inaugural three seasons with the club, before the arrival of Sam Johnstone in summer 2024.
The pair have been battling it out for the sole goalkeeper spot ever since, and after a period out of the team last season, Sa entered the current term back as number one.
But Wolves’ poor start to 2025/26 saw him replaced from late September to early December; however, his return to the team coincided with an upturn in results.
Despite this, the Portugal international admits he has found the whole term to be one of the most challenging he’s ever experienced.
“It’s been very tough for everyone, even for me,” he said. “I cannot say too much about it, just that it’s very difficult.
“I don’t like to lose. I like to win and help my teammates. In this moment it’s difficult to help them because everything is messy.
“We are fighting and trying to finish, trying to win the maximum points possible. That’s what we’re doing. The priorities are trying to work happy and get the maximum points that we can.
“I don’t know why, but it’s been very difficult. It’s been difficult psychologically, but we have to be strong and try to fight, try to help my teammates and do the best possible. But it’s difficult for everyone.”
As a player who might have been guilty of letting his emotions get the better of him in his earlier years as a professional, Sa has matured into a leader under Edwards.
But the stopper explains that although his mental strength has been tested to the fullest this year, his experience in the game has helped him come out the other side a stronger person and player.
“Our life is pressure. We have to handle that. It’s pressure with family, and in football, and you have to handle the pressure.
“In the end, all we can do is look at how it is day by day with Rob, focusing on training, on the games, but the psychological and the mental side has been the most important.”
Being one of the senior members of the squad, Sa has also stepped up to regularly skipper Edwards’ sides during the second half of the campaign following the injury absences of Toti and Matt Doherty.
But even once the defenders returned to fitness, Sa kept hold of the armband - a clear sign of his growing influence and stature within the playing group.
While being captain has meant Sa has had to focus his energy not just on keeping his place in the team, but making sure the players continue to show their fighting spirit until the end of the season, having the strong support of his teammates and his head coach is helping him blossom into his new role.
“I have to be with them, and I can’t let myself get down. I have to try to help them when they need it. But Rob has helped us a lot.
“We had a difficult period, but with Rob we seem more happy. I’m not saying that we weren’t happy with Vitor, but it was difficult. We are working well. Rob is a good coach, he’s very connected with us, and we are working as best as we can and we are winning points, not as many as we need, but we are winning points.
“It’s true that we’ve deserved more than we’ve got this season, but now it’s very difficult. The gap [to 17th] is very big, but we are trying our best to stay closer.
“We have to take the best of everyone, so we need to take the best from Rob and fight and get some points.”
The goalkeeper’s battling spirit has been on full display since the turn of the year, but none more so than at Nottingham Forest in early February.
Having been linked with a move to the City Ground in the January transfer window, Sa arrived in Nottingham as Wolves captain and produced a Player of the Match display.
This Jose Sa save is up for February's @premierleague Save of the Month 🧤
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 5, 2026
Vote for Jose 👉 https://t.co/huNG70Rgwp pic.twitter.com/1R74YVvuPe
Not only keeping out 35 shots aimed at his goal, but Sa made an incredible double stop which saw him included at the top of the Premier League’s ‘Save of the Week’ highlights and earn a 'Save of the Month' nomination.
“I was very happy to help my teammates get a point, at least. We knew that it was a tough game because they are a very good team, with very good players. In the end, 0-0 was good for us, and we’ll take it.”
Facing shots is the bread and butter of being a goalkeeper. But for Sa, the role has changed massively since he first came into the game as a youngster.
Since his time in the youth set-ups at Benfica and Maritimo, he has had to adapt to the modern ways of goalkeeping. No longer is the keeper just the last line of defence, they are now expected to be the start of the attacks.
With goalkeepers now expected to be as good with their feet as outfield players, Sa does feel players in his position still need to be treated differently than his outfield counterparts, and more protection needs to be given to those between the sticks.
“A goalkeeper is there to defend us, so I look a lot at that era because they were very good goalkeepers, and today they are too, but the position has changed a lot.
“Especially in the Premier League, it’s very difficult because here they don’t protect goalkeepers much. I’ve spoken a lot with the referees and told them they have to protect goalkeepers more, because with the blocks we can’t do anything.
“They put us inside the goal. But what can we do? It’s difficult, but we have to deal with that.”
Although Premier League survival is looking increasingly difficult, if still not impossible, for the Old Gold, Sa – who is closing in on being Wolves’ fourth highest Premier League appearance maker in history – is trying to remain optimistic.
“Is it possible? Yes, it’s possible, but very difficult. We have to be men to understand that.
“It’s not that I don’t believe, but I will do the best I can to play, to help and to win the maximum points possible. But we all know it’s difficult.”
Sa continued to lead Wolves out through their biggest moments of magic in March, which saw Edwards' side pick up vital Premier League wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool, as well as fighting back from two goals down to claim points against Arsenal and Brentford.
With the goalkeeper producing top quality performances at the back, while his team have begun to increase their attacking output at the other end of the pitch, who is to say the Old Gold cannot pull off one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history?
A version of this article originally featured in Wolves' official 2025/26 matchday programme. This season's programmes are all available to purchase online through retailers Curtis Sports.
