Matheus Nunes joined Manchester City from Wolves this summer for £53m, leaving Molineux on poor terms after deciding he wanted to move to the Etihad.

Matheus Nunes returns to Wolves on Saturday for the first time since his acrimonious exit in the summer and wants to set the record straight – starting with an apology.

The £53m deadline day signing for Manchester City stopped training at Wolves to try and get the transfer over the line, prompting a backlash from fans and negative comments from their manager and Sporting Director. For that, he is ready to say sorry to his former club, as he expressed regret at how he left things at Molineux.

Ahead of City’s Premier League clash at Molineux on Saturday, Nunes broke his silence on his final days at Wolves, saying he couldn’t afford to turn down a move to the Etihad as he simply did not know if the ‘dream’ opportunity would come again.

After leaving, new Wolves manager Gary O’Neil criticised Nunes’ decision to stay away from training, while Sporting Director Matt Hobbs told their website that he was ‘disappointed with how it ended,’ adding: “It wasn’t necessary the stance Matheus took, but we ended with a good resolution for everyone.”

At the time, Nunes took to Instagram to say that ‘however incomprehensible’ his exit may have seemed, he would explain his reasoning so ‘everybody without exception’ would understand him. Looking back, and preparing for a potentially frosty reception this weekend, Nunes started with an apology in an attempt to smooth relations.

“I can understand there are some supporters not happy with my decision and for that I’m sorry,” he began.

“I made my decision but it was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to. Manchester City is a top [club] with the best players in the world, the best manager. They won the treble last year. I don’t know if I’d ever get that opportunity again, so I just took my chance. I’ll always be grateful for Wolves giving me that opportunity.

“I know it may upset some fans about my decision to not train. For that, I’m sorry. It was something, maybe I would have done differently but it was my decision because I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by.”

What could he have done differently, then?

“Maybe trying to be more calm,” he replied. “More calm, I wanted this very badly. Maybe more calm.”

City moved for Nunes late in the window after learning of Kevin De Bruyne’s injury, with Nunes having set his mind on kicking on under Gary O’Neil after Wolves survived relegation last season.

“It happened very quick, I didn’t know before that,” he said of how the move came about. “As a football player you always want to play for a top team that wins titles. My head was still at Wolves. I didn’t think of leaving because it was late [in the window].

“It’s not going to happen, my focus this year – I’m going to play for Wolves and give my best like I’ve always given. If it comes, it comes, but I didn’t expect it to come when it did.

“Wolves gave me the opportunity, I’ll always be grateful. That was my dream. I want to win trophies, I wanted to be coached by the best manager. Wolves have an amazing team as well, I left a lot of good friends and amazing players. They [City] won the treble and it’s hard to say no. I was very happy when City came.”

When Hobbs criticised Nunes’ decision not to train, he also suggested that the Portugal international ‘would admit that last season he didn’t hit the heights he expected.’ To an extent, Nunes agrees, but made clear that his commitment at Molineux could never be questioned.

“Honestly, yes, the year could have gone better,” he said. “The year before at Sporting that was the year they based their opinion about me. When it comes to commitment, no.

“I gave my best, tried to do my best. It was not an easy season for everyone. That was not the aim we had for last year to fight for surviving in the Premier League. In terms of commitment, no, they need to know from me I will always give my best. When I was there I always tried my best always to help the club.

“Maybe performance-wise with all the circumstances – I played most of the year with an injury, sometimes I played out of position, changing the manager didn’t help – performance-wise maybe I didn’t perform like they would expect me to be, which is fair based on what they have seen of me before. But in terms of commitment, no.

“I understand [the comments], because of the way everything happened. It all happened really quick. I was a fan before as well, when you see something and think ‘this is what happened’, you believe in that because you don’t have another point of view. It’s fair, I understand, they want the best for their club and when you don’t perform at your best, it’s a normal thing and you have to deal with it and accept it.”

Guardiola said he hopes Nunes can be ‘strong’ at Wolves, in anticipation of a negative reaction from home fans, with the midfielder offering a more positive outlook on his expectations on Saturday afternoon.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the fans and my old teammates,” he said. “The atmosphere there was always amazing as a stadium. I’ll always be grateful for Wolves giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League to play for an amazing club. I remember my first goal, it was at Molineux. I’ll never forget, I’ll remember forever scoring that goal and hearing the fans screaming.”