Joao Gomes reportedly sent messages of reassurance to Julen Lopetegui about moving to Wolves while the club was in a stand-off with Flamengo.
The Athletic has today lifted the lid on Gomes’ move to Molineux and how it all came to fruition.
Wolves were all set to sign Gomes two weeks ago.
The club were ready to welcome him to the club after a deal was agreed.
But a higher offer from Lyon threatened to derail things.
Flamengo stopped communicating with Wolves, as they sought to do business with the French side.
The Athletic state that Wolves had a ‘grudging’ understanding that Lyon wanted to sell to the club that offered more money.
But Wolves were encouraged by Gomes’ stance on the situation.
The player had apparently given his word that he would sign for Wolves, and that he did not have any interest in going to France.
The Athletic say Gomes actually sent messages to Wolves boss Lopetegui during the stand-off, reassuring him that he would still sign. He apparently spoke of his excitement about joining.
Gomes went on to decline Lyon’s approach to owner John Textor’s face, before requesting a meeting with Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim.
He informed him that he wanted to keep his word with Wolves.
And Wolves then supposedly tweaked their payment structure so that it was more in line with Lyon’s offer. But it was still lower than theirs.
But that ultimately did not matter. Gomes wanted Wolves, and that was why the move happened.
Joao Gomes’ desire to sign for Wolves is extremely refreshing
It is interesting to read about the extent Gomes wanted to sign for Wolves.
Lopetegui and Matt Hobbs both had talks with the player. And whatever they said played a big part in him taking the stance that he did.
Lyon offered higher wages than Wolves. And they have a history of Brazilian players doing well for them.
So he could very easily have wanted to go there.
But clearly there was a laser focus on securing a move to Wolves, and it’s very refreshing that he told Lopetegui how excited he was about signing while everything was still up in the air.