(Football news) Wolves have completed the signing of Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon for a fee of £38m plus £4.2m in add-ons. The 23 year old midfielder has become the club’s most expensive signing in history, surpassing what Wolves paid for Fabio Silva (£35m to Porto two years ago) could make his debut for the club in their match against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Nunes has become Wolves’ third signing of the summer after Goncalo Guedes from Valencia and Burnley defender Nathan Collins.
Nunes joined Sporting Lisbon from Estoril in January 2019 and spent three and a half years at the Portuguese club, scoring most recently in Sporting’s 3-0 win over Rio Ave on Saturday. He has scored 7 goals in 76 appearances in all competitions for the Lions and has eight caps and one goal for the Portugal national team. West Ham were also linked to Nunes but manager David Moyes said that “the player didn’t want to come”.
As things stand, Wolves manager Bruno Lage only has two senior central midfielders at his disposal after Joao Moutinho’s injury and Nunes is expected to be more than a quality option in the area. His ability to carry the ball forward from midfield is exactly what Wolves have been lacking since a long time and statistically, Nunes completed 81 dribbles in the Portuguese league last season, an astounding achievement for a central midfielder. Moreover, Nunes is the only ball carrier in the team as Neves and Moutinho are known for their distribution and the three Portuguese players could combine well to transform Wolves into a formidable team.
Speaking after the signing, Wolves chairman Jeff Shi said: “We are very happy to welcome Matheus to Wolverhampton, and delighted to add another exciting young talent to Bruno’s squad. Matheus has had two excellent seasons at the top level in Portugal with Sporting and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in world football, so we are thrilled that he has chosen the Premier League and Wolves as the next step in what we hope will be a fantastic career.”
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