The inside story of how Wolves signed Joao Gomes after spotting him in 2021
Latest Wolves news from BirminghamLive includes the inside story of the £15m deal to bring Joao Gomes to Molineux
Wolverhampton Wanderers first spotted new signing Joao Gomes all the way back in 2021, sporting director Matt Hobbs has revealed.
Gomes completed his long-awaited transfer to Wolves from Flamengo over the weekend and the club announced his arrival with a spectacular ‘Free Joao Gomes’ unveiling video at 2pm on Monday. The video was two weeks in the making after Flamengo reneged on the initial agreement with Wolves in order to negotiate with French club Lyon.
But the transfer itself has been in the works for a lot longer than that. Hobbs explained: “In truth, it started back in August 2021 with our scouting coordinator Elliot Sutcliffe, who was covering South America at the time. When he first saw him, from the first viewing, he said he was one to keep an eye on, with an interesting profile.
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“We’ve watched all his games since and got in touch with his agent in the last window to see what the situation was, so he’s always been a player on our list, who we’d like to sign at some stage.”
Wolves acted on their interest three weeks ago and a deal was agreed with Flamengo to sign Gomes. Head coach Julen Lopetegui wouldn’t directly address interest in Gomes before Wolves played West Ham on January 14, but privately the Spaniard and his coaching staff were already talking up his talents.
They believe he offers something completely different to Wolves’ current midfield options. In time, Gomes - although possessing a vastly different profile - is expected to succeed captain Ruben Neves as Wolves’ midfield anchorman.
Hobbs added: “He’s got energy and is physical, he can play in a six or an eight, and has the Brazilian technicality. For us, it’s a player that has all the attributes to make it in the Premier League.
“We have to allow him time to settle, adapt and get his match fitness and speed up. For us, this is a long-term signing, someone we’re really excited about for the next few years and has all the ability to be a Brazilian national team player.”
Gomes and his wife - who is due to join him in Wolverhampton in the next few weeks - have been in limbo for the past fortnight. At one stage, Flamengo completely cut off negotiations with Wolves in an attempt to force Gomes to accept Lyon’s more financially lucrative proposal.
It was too late though. Gomes had given his word to Wolves and, despite the best efforts of Lyon and Flamengo, the 21-year-old is a man of integrity.
“It’s well publicised that we thought we had a deal sorted a couple of weeks ago, but what’s been great, and probably what’s got the deal done, has been the player,” admitted Hobbs. “He’s turned down a more lucrative offer at another club because he always said he gave his word, he always wanted to come to Wolves since talking to Julen and I, so he’s kept his word and stayed strong. Without the player taking the stance he did, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Lopetegui was on board from the get-go, despite Gomes not initially featuring on the list of targets the Spaniard presented to the club upon his arrival in November. He researched Gomes and watched him play before giving Hobbs the green light to pursue a deal.
“He’s been key in driving it, it was a player he wanted to bring in, and when he speaks to them, he’s phenomenal," Hobbs said of Lopetegui's influence. "The way he talks, with passion, passion he’s already got for the football club. This is a guy who has worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world, but the way he talks about our club, it makes you want to sign on the same call.”
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