Botafogo’s majority shareholder John Textor has admitted the club’s interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Fernando Marcal with his Premier League contract expiring in July, speaking to O Globo.
The Wolves team that kicks off 2022/23 could look very different from the one that ends 2021/22.
Romain Saiss, Joao Moutinho and the aforementioned Marcal are set to become free-agents in a matter of weeks. Francisco Trincao will return to Barcelona when his loan deal comes to an end.
And, according to The Athletic, fears are growing that Ruben Neves is entering his final few weeks in ‘Old Gold’ with an upwardly-mobile Barcelona side identifying the Portuguese playmaker as the next piece in Xavi Hernandez’s jigsaw.
Is Fernando Marcal leaving Wolves?
According to reports in Brazil, Marcal has already agreed his next move too.
Globo Esporte claim that Marcal, the veteran defender who arrived from Lyon in the summer of 2020, will be joining Botafogo on a free in the summer.
The 33-year-old is set to reunite with former team-mate and close friend Rafael da Silva at a side who won the Brazilian Serie B title last season.
Botafogo will also bring in the evergreen Eran Zahavi from PSV Eindhoven in July. The South American giants wanted Zahavi now, with the Brazilian transfer window open until April 16th, but PSV – like Wolves – were never going to let a key player go with two months of the season remaining.
“I think the second transfer window (the summer one) is very important. Because we’re signing these players now, when a lot of what we want – successful athletes – are with teams that don’t want to let them go mid-season,” says Textor, who also bought a stake in Crystal Palace in August.
“We did a good job of finding available players. Zahavi is one example. Marcal of Wolves is another.
“PSV will not let Zahavi go now that he is scoring goals. Every time he scores a goal I despair, because it will take longer (to get the deal done).
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“Marcal almost scored one against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, which would be terrible!,” Textor adds with a laugh.
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