Midfielder Bruno Jordao has said he is hopeful of playing for Wolves in the Premier League, following his latest loan spell with Santa Clara.
Jordao made 11 appearances for the club, who were relegated at the end of the season.
The decision was made by Wolves officials last summer that Jordao should head out, after returning from a long-term injury in the previous season.
Jordao suffered an injury while on loan at Farmalicao in 2020 that put him on the sidelines for a year. He returned to action in the 2021/22 season, and his most recent outing for the first-team was a five-minute cameo against Sheffield United in the FA Cup in January 2022.
That is one of five appearances he has made. But Jordao is now looking to add to that tally.
He’ll not be staying at Santa Clara, and it remains to be seen if Julen Lopetegui will select him as part of his first-team squad.
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Bruno Jordao eyes first-team return for Wolves after Santa Clara loan
Jordao has been speaking to Radio Renascenca about his plans for the future.
He said: “I’m going back to Wolverhampton, I still have a contract, so I’m going to attack this last opportunity because it’s the last year of my contract and I hope it goes well.
“My goal is to play in the Premier League, play for Wolverhampton and grow every day.”
The star, who joined the club in 2019 in a double deal from Lazio with Pedro Neto, may well have an opportunity.
Wolves are currently dealing with some FFP issues, and this will apparently restrict Wolves’ spending this summer.
So it’s possible he could be an option.
Bruno Jordao will either be kept or sold by Wolves, with midfielder having one year left
It will be very interesting to see if Jordao is a player Lopetegui fancies.
He got really unlucky with the serious injury he picked up during his first loan spell with Farmalicao.
He lost a year of developing, and it’s been tough for him ever since he returned. There were reports that Wolves were hoping to receive offers for Jordao ahead of last summer.
Jordao’s latest loan spell with Santa Clara wasn’t particularly productive. He didn’t actually make his first league appearance for the club until November after picking up a groin injury.
It’s a shame for him, as there was excitement about him when he signed for Wolves club along with Neto.
But maybe he could now turn a corner, after becoming something of a forgotten man at Wolves.
Joao Moutinho has left and Ruben Neves could well follow. Quite possibly, there could potentially be a place in the squad for another Portuguese technician type.
Lopetegui has good options in the form of Matheus Nunes, Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, Boubacar Traore and Joao Hodge.
If all those players are kept then maybe one more could be added. If Wolves aren’t looking to dip in to the transfer market then Jordao could be an option.
But of course, it all depends on what Lopetegui thinks.
If he doesn’t convince the manager in pre-season, then he will surely be sold since he has one year left on his contract.