Wolves complete club-record deal for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Nunes
Premier League club Wolves have broken their transfer record to sign Portugal midfielder Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon.
The deal is worth £42.2million, with Wolves paying an initial £38million with £4.2million in add-ons, and Nunes could now make his debut against Tottenham on Saturday.
The transfer eclipses the £35million Wolves paid Porto in 2020 for Fabio Silva – now on loan at Anderlecht.
Unseen Premier League signings worth £205.8m judging by how excited we are for their debut
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi told the club’s official website: “We are delighted to welcome Matheus to Wolverhampton and are delighted to add another exciting young talent to Bruno’s squad.
“Matheus has had two excellent seasons at the highest level in Portugal with Sporting and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting prospects in world football. Hope will be a fantastic career.”
Commenting on his excitement about the move, Nunes said: “I’m very excited. For me I could play tomorrow but I can’t because the game is Saturday but I’m looking forward to it.
“I think the club itself [convinced him] and I also spoke to some of my teammates because I play with them for the national team. So did the manager, he really wanted me and I wanted to play in the Premier League. I think it’s the right next step for me and I’m very happy to be here.”
Brazilian-born Nunes turned down an opportunity to play for his native country and made his debut for Portugal last year. He has eight caps and scored one goal for the country.
Nunes, who has attracted the attention of several leading clubs and has been linked with Manchester City and Liverpool, would be Bruno Lage’s third signing this summer.
Wolves have already signed Portuguese striker Goncalo Guedes, who arrived from Valencia, and Republic of Ireland defender Nathan Collins, who signed from Burnley.
However, it was a frustrating start to the new season, with an opening-day defeat by Leeds followed by a goalless draw with Fulham. The trip to Tottenham is scheduled for Saturday.
Last week, Lage said he wanted to sign “three or four more players” before the end of the current transfer window.
“The words are patience and trust,” he said on Friday. “Patience because we have 20 days until the end of the transfer window.
“And trust in our work. Judge the work we’re doing at the start of this season at the end of this transfer window.
“Some players go, some players come. I have great faith in the work we are doing and that we will convince three or four other players to come and play for Wolves.”