During the summer of 2018, Valencia were in the market for a new winger with Paris Saint-Germain youngster Goncalo Guedes joining Sevilla’s Pablo Sarabia on the Los Che hitlist (Marca).
In the end, with Sarabia proving too costly, Guedes arrived at the Mestalla instead. Four-and-a-half years later, the futures of the two Iberian forwards may once again be intertwined.
According to The Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers are in talks with Paris Saint-Germain over a deal that would see Sarabia reunite with his former Real Madrid B, Spain and Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui at Molineux. 30-year-old Sarabia has just 18 months left on his PSG contract. And Les Parisiens appear to be open to offers for their £17 million benchwarmer.
Sarabia has started just three Ligue 1 games since returning from a loan spell at Sporting Lisbon. Understandably, first-team chances have been hard to come by since a certain Argentine arrived…
And, yes, we do mean Lionel Messi.
Wolves are in talks to sign Pablo Sarabia from French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Now, there is nothing to suggest that Guedes’ future at Wolves is under any immediate threat. He’s still only a few months into his five-year contract after all. But the potential arrival of Sarabia should act as something of a wake-up call for a player who, for much of his time England, has looked more like a £2.7 million footballer than a £27 million one.
Just four days after greedily unwrapping the late-Christmas gift handed to him by Alisson Becker during Wolves’ 2-2 FA Cup third round draw with Liverpool, Guedes was back to his old ways. Those bad habits returning. That confidence-boosting Anfield goal clearly counting for little.
The Portugal international has a tendency to flit from the exhilarating to the exasperating. And, as Wolves bowed out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage to Nottingham Forest, his performance was certainly more of the latter than the former; wild shots and poor decision-making once again from a man who spends more time stuck in cul-de-sacs than an Uber driver with a faulty sat nav.
Guedes lasted just 45 minutes at the City Ground; deservedly hooked at the break. With Hwang Hee-Chan and Daniel Podence flitting back into life under Lopetegui – and with Matheus Cunha making an excellent first impression – Wolves’ interest in Sarabia feels like, if not a nail in Guedes’ Molineux coffin, then certainly a rocket up the proverbial.
A Lopetegui and Sarabia reunion at Molineux
“Pablo is an excellent kid,” Lopetegui once said of Sarabia; scorer of 23 goals in his final season at Sevilla before heading to Paris. “A very good player whom I know very well.”
Sarabia and Lopetegui were briefly reunited in Andalusia back in 2019. Albeit only for a month. Sarabia left a few weeks after Lopetegui’s appointment. But the admiration between player and coach remains strong to this day. Sarabia’s vast experience, surgical left-foot and impressive goalscoring record from attacking midfield could make a huge difference in a tense relegation battle.
Lopetegui, meanwhile, has already showcased his ruthless streak at Wolves; Goncalo Guedes paying the price for yet another ineffective display in midweek. With Sarabia potentially joining Podence, Hwang and Cunha, more of the same will clearly not be tolerated.
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