- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
Wolves have agreed a fee worth £12.7 million for Braga winger Rodrigo Gomes and hope to beat Premier League rivals West Ham United and Brighton to a deal later this week.
HITC reported back in January that, while Wolverhampton Wanderers were admirers of the versatile wideman, the Molineux outfit had placed Rodrigo Gomes on the backburner until the summer.
Five months on, and with Wolves now stepping up their interest, one of the most coveted young players in Portuguese football could finally be pulling on that Old Gold kit at some point during the next few days.
HITC understands that Gary O’Neil‘s team have now met Braga’s £12.7 million asking price. There is interest from rival top-flight sides West Ham, Brighton and Hove Albion, Brentford and AFC Bournemouth, but Wolves are now in pole position with a medical due to take place later on this week.
Gomes, who was on the radar of Spanish giants Atletico Madrid too, is expected to sign a five-year deal in the Black Country.
Wolves agree deal for Braga winger Rodrigo Gomes
Still only 20, Gomes spent 2023/24 on loan at Estoril. He was a massive success during a spell away from Braga, scoring nine goals and setting up eight more across all competitions.
Gomes, who’s speed and directness may draw comparisons with compatriot Pedro Neto, featured more regularly on the right last term. But he is equally comfortable when cutting in from the left, and also gives O’Neil the option to set his team up in a wing-back system.
“He showed potential and (good) performance,” Joao Pereira, who coached a teenage Gomes at youth level, tells O Jogo.
“He developed skills, starting with his versatility. He is a very strong wing-back in a three-centre-back system. He is very courageous and this shows in the way he plays. I believe he will be very successful, wherever he is.
“He’s an exceptional and humble kid with whom I keep in touch,” adds Pereira. “I highlight his speed, confidence, work-ethic and verticality. He has a lot of drive, the ability to go one-on-one, carries the ball and continually makes deep runs, both from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside.
“There are many clubs that look for these qualities.”
West Ham and Brighton to miss out
Gomes’ agent, Marcelo Cipriano, confirmed at the start of the year that Wolves were ‘one of many clubs who contacted me from the five major European leagues’.
The Midlanders now appear set to win the race, the Portugal Under 21 international continuing a proud tradition of Iberian talent continuing their development in Wolverhampton after Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota, Neto and more.
HITC reported a few months ago, meanwhile, that Neto is a target for the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool this summer. Wolves may have to consider offers too, in order to avoid falling foul of Financial Fair Play.
Juventus’ England youth star and one-time Chelsea prospect Samuel Iling-Junior is a name under consideration to potentially take Neto’s place at Molineux.
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