Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is ecstatic after securing the services of Portuguese youngster Rodrigo Gomes, with the versatile winger and full-back signing a five-year deal
Wolves have confirmed the signing of Rodrigo Gomes – with boss Gary O’Neil hailing the winger as ‘a perfect signing.’
The Portugal Under-21 international follows Tommy Doyle through the doors at Molineux after agreeing a £12m switch from Braga.
Gomes, 20, has agreed a five-year deal and Wolves have swooped following an impressive campaign on loan at Estoril where he bagged nine goals and eight assists.
O’Neil said: “The type of player Rodrigo is, he’s had a fantastic season, playing in many different positions and he’s only 20 years old. For where we are as a club, he’s the perfect signing for us. He’s young and he has potential.
“He’s not proven at Prenier League level yet but he’s one we can definitely know we can get to that level. We can work with him and help him develop proving himself in the toughest league in the world.
“Every time I’ve watched him, his enthusiasm and endeavour have drawn my eyes towards him. I’m really pleased, he’s a really good signing for us.”
Sporting director Matt Hobbs added: “It’s nice to do one early in the summer, so Rodrigo will be able to join the squad for the first day of pre-season, which is great for the player and the coaching staff – they can work with him from the start. He’s a great character, a great boy and will really fit in.
“Scouting has taken a while. He’s a player we’ve followed for most of the season, since he first went on loan. He’s a player we know very, very well and have done an awful lot of work on but getting him in has been relatively smooth because Rodrigo was clear that he wanted to come here and is excited.
“It’s not important to get a deal done early if it’s not the right player, but this is the right player. It’s great for the club to do that. He’ll be an important player for us with his versatility, creativity, technical ability and attitude on the pitch. The fans will love him and I’m genuinely really excited to have him here.”
The signing of Gomes provides some positive news for the Midlands club after a summer dominated by supporter unrest. Wolves unveiled price increases across the board on season tickets, with chairman Jeff Shi facing a backlash from furious fans.
On the pitch, it was a frustrating end to an otherwise richly impressive first season for O’Neil at Molineux. After arriving on the eve of the season to replace Julen Lopetegui, he had Wolves in the mix for a top-half finish, before their lack of depth was cruelly exposed by a string of injuries.
O’Neil made clear adding options remains the priority, adding: “We know how tough it’s going to be, it was unbelievably though last year, as we saw towards the end when we lost some bodies. We all understand the need to depth this season and hopefully this is the first part of that.”
He also hinted that incomings may depend on players going the other way, although there is no longer the kind of pressure that saw the likes of Ruben Neves, Raul Jimenez, Joao Moutinho and Adama Traore all leaving last summer.
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