Rodrigo Gomes has been announced as a new Wolves player – and Gary O’Neil has been speaking about the club’s newest recruit.
The club made an official announcement this evening, with Gomes signing a five-year contract with the club.
Wolves have paid Braga around £12.7 million for the transfer, and the Portuguese club have negotiated a sell-on clause of 10%.
Gomes comes in after a really good season on loan at Estoril, for whom he played mostly as a right wing-back.
He will now head back to Portugal to spend some time with his family before pre-season commences at Compton Park, and he will be there from day one.
In the eyes of manager Gary O’Neil, Wolves have landed a top prospect.
Gary O’Neil struck by a couple of things about new Wolves signing Rodrigo Gomes
Gomes, 20, is a very versatile player.
Last term, he operated as a right wing-back for Estoril, but he can play as a winger on either side of the pitch, and even has the capacity to play centrally.
That is going to be very helpful for O’Neil, who is absolutely delighted with to have landed the player.
He is quoted by the Mirror tonight as saying: “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.”
O’Neil has obviously watched him play before giving the move the green light, and there are a couple of things that have already left him impressed.
“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,” he added.
Encouraging remarks
Gomes feels like a player Wolves fans are really going to enjoy watching.
Clearly, he has an eye for making things happen in the final third, as evidenced by his 17 goal contributions in 2023/24.
But O’Neil pointed to his endeavour, so fans can probably expect to see him pressing a lot when Wolves don’t have the ball. O’Neil is big on work-rate, and Gomes appears to be someone with good defensive discipline – clearly he must have this to have played as a wing-back.
It is good to see Wolves making moves early. Hopefully, Gomes can settle really quickly at Compton and be ready and raring to go for the first game of 2024/25.