Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes was a relatively unknown quantity when he was signed from Flamengo for £15 million in 2023, but now he’s one of the best ball-winning midfielders in the Premier League.
There were fears the Brazilian would exit the club this summer, joining striker Matheus Cunha in potentially leaving Wolves for a bigger club.
However, the 24-year-old put rumours of him departing Molineux to bed as Gomes signed a new contract at Wolves till 2030.
A new lucrative deal was a reward for the midfielder’s outstanding campaign, seeing him feature 34 times in all competitions and continue to dominate the engine room.
Lee Naylor called Gomes ‘outstanding’ on Sunday as Wolves beat Tottenham 4-2, and former star Dave Edwards feels the Brazil international has improved in one key area.
Dave Edwards says Joao Gomes has ‘really improved’ in possession
Everyone knows that the midfielder’s aggressive style of play and ferocious pressing make him one of the most fearsome customers to play against in the Premier League.
The former Flamengo star has also improved in most areas of his game, with Gomes seeing an increase in key passes per game, passing accuracy and ball recoveries compared to last season.
Troy Deeney labelled Gomes an ‘excellent footballer’ after the recent win over Ipswich Town, backing up that performance with an even better display against Spurs.
Wolves dominated the central areas on Sunday with their dynamic Brazilian duo, and Edwards noticed how much Gomes has improved in possession.
Speaking on the Wolves Unpacked podcast, Edwards praised his awareness on the ball and his passing. “Andre is fabulous on the ball,” he said. “We spoke about that on numerous amount of occasions, but Joao Gomes I feel is getting better and better with his consistency of his passing, the way he receives the ball.
“I think a little bit at the start when he came, he would receive it a little bit closed off and his first touch would be back into trouble. Then he would try and work it away from it, which he could do. But now I think his awareness is really improved.
“He understands what’s around him, which are really difficult things to do in football and the pace of a Premier League game to know where the space is with that first touch. We see him really breaking through lines doing that now and picking passes at the end of it as well.”
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Gary O’Neil urged Gomes to improve on the ball in 2024
Gary O’Neil had his critics during his time at Wolves, and even more so now that Pereira is doing a fantastic job.
But one thing that can’t be taken away from the Englishman is how much he improved players individually, as he was responsible for getting the confidence back into Cunha and turning Rayan Ait-Nouri into an attacking phenom.
The former Wolves boss can also take credit for getting the best out of his midfield dynamos, as O’Neil urged Gomes to improve on the ball after he scored a brace in a win over Tottenham in February 2024.
“We were going to be without the ball for spells, but we were going to try to make it compact and we knew he’d be able to press people and regain the ball like he did,” O’Neil said.
“And I thought he was excellent at that. I’m very keen to still try to improve what he is with the ball. We work very hard on it with him, his understanding with the ball and how clean he is with it, sometimes with his passes.”
O’Neil deserves credit for noticing that flaw in his game, because how Gomes manoeuvres out of tight spaces now and picks passes is excellent.