While Nathan Collins is on the verge of becoming Wolves’ first signing of the summer – the Burnley defender will undergo a medical at Molineux before completing a £20.5 million switch (The Athletic) – arrival number two might not be too far behind.
According to TNT Sports, Wolverhampton Wanderers have also agreed a £4 million fee with Universidad de Chile for the teen sensation Dario Osorio. Capped twice by the Chilean national team at the age of 18, Osorio also has admirers at, to name but two, Real Madrid and Manchester City. His signing won’t be as high-profile as Collins’, but it’s arguably even more intriguing.
“He is a tall, very fast player,” explains Universidad’s sporting director Manuel Mayo. “Osorio shoots spectacularly and plays as if he were at home.
“It is logical that foreign clubs ask about him.”
Nathan Collins and Dario Osorio at Wolves?
Collins and Osorio, at just 21 and 18 respectively, may be, as they say, ‘ones for the future’ but there is no reason why they both players cannot slot into Bruno Lage’s first-team plans and make an immediate impact.
Collins, a commanding, ball-playing central defender who can play on the right or the left, was a bright spark in Burnley’s disastrous 2021/22 campaign. He is also a decade younger than both Willy Boly and the departed Romain Saiss.
Osorio, meanwhile, could be utilised in a similar vein to Pedro Neto. Drip-fed the odd cameo appearance before earning a sustained run of games later down the line. Neto, in the space of two years, went from exciting back-up to arguably the first name on Nuno Espirito Santo’s team-sheet, and certainly his most effective attacker. Osorio could provide similar speed, thrust and guile from either flank.
The new Neves and Moutinho?
Andre Almeida, another of Wolves’ summer targets, falls into a similar category. At 22, he is far from the finished article but would arrive with first-team experience under his belt. Wolves entered talks with the £8 million-rated Almeida earlier in the summer, per Zero Zero, and Vitoria Guimaraes will not stand in his way.
Mobile, technic and highly intelligent with the ball at his feet, the 5ft 7ins playmaker looks every inch a long-term replacement for Joao Moutinho at Molineux. A long-term partnership with the homegrown Luke Cundle beckons.
“He’s ready for that step up,” says Wolves U23 coach James Collins of the Warrington-born Cundle.
“He’s got an outstanding brain and drives the game. He runs the game and dictates it which is a great skill. He’s intelligent, makes good decisions, can attack and defend.”
Cundle, based on that assessment, could save Wolves a lot of money when the time comes for Ruben Neves to depart. A modern day Old Gold legend looks increasingly likely to stick around for the new season but you’d get long odds on Neves still being a Wolves player three years from now.
Out with the old, in with the new?
By the time 2025 rolls around, Jose Sa, Max Kilman, Yerson Mosquera, Nathan Collins, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Fabio Silva and the aforementioned Neto could form the spine of a fine Premier League team. 22-year-old Chiquinho showed glimpses of his electrifying potential in recent months too. Although it remains to be seen if the jet-heeled wing-back can recover from a long-term ligament injury.
The most exciting of the new additions, however, could still be yet to come.
According to Mais Futebol, Wolverhampton Wanderers are in talks to sign Goncalo Ramos; The £34 million-rated Portugal U21 international from Benfica. Not quite a striker, not quite a midfielder; Ramos’s remarkable awareness and appreciation of space have led to comparisons with the great Thomas Muller.
Comparisons he embraces.
“I think I have some similarities with him (Muller)” Ramos, who scored a stunning long-range goal against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals, tells the UEFA website.
“Considering what I do and what he does, I like to be compared to him.
“I like to be involved and participate in the game. And I think that brings out the best in me; My competitiveness, my willingness to work hard to help my team-mates, and also my intelligence.”
Of course, this is purely hypothetical. The deal for Osorio could collapse. Ruben Neves might sign a five-year contract extension tomorrow. But, for now at least, the future at Wolves looks as bright as those iconic golden shirts.
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