Seven years on from their promotion to the Premier League, Wolves are now battling to stay in the English top flight. So far, the 2024/25 season has been a challenging one to say the least.
Wolves currently find themselves in 17th place of the Premier League table following a 3-1 defeat against Chelsea in their last outing. It’s a third-straight defeat for Vitor Pereira’s side who sit outside the drop zone only on goal difference.
So far in this January transfer window, Wolves have signed Emmanuel Agbadou. The centre-back joins Wolves from Reims in a £16.6million deal and it may indicate the Wolves owners’ plans for the final two weeks of the January transfer window.
Pereira is certainly in need of new bodies if his side are to realistically mount a bid for Premier League survival. Now, there’s another new name added to the list of players linked with Wolves, in Johnny Cardoso.
Wolves linked with Real Betis midfielder Jonny Cardoso
Pereira may still be reeling after his side missed out on Manu Silva. Wolves wanted to sign the Portuguese gem from Vitoria but Manu has joined Benfica instead, dealing a hefty transfer blow to Wolves.
But Cardoso could be the next best thing. Fabrizio Romano has revealed on X that Wolves have taken a keen interest in the American defensive midfielder, though Spurs do hold an option to buy the 23-year-old.
So far in 2024/25, Cardoso has featured 13 times in La Liga with Betis, also boasting 18 caps with the USMNT. He remains under contract with the club until 2029.
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Why do Spurs have the option to buy Johnny Cardoso?
As Romano points out in the above post, Spurs can buy Cardoso at anytime for €25million (£21.1million), and so if Wolves want to make him their next January signing, they must act quickly, and efficiently.
Per previous reports, Spurs have an option to buy the Betis midfielder as part of the Giovani Lo Celso deal. Spurs sold Lo Celso to Betis in August 2024 with Spurs then sneakily adding in a clause to buy Cardoso.
But Wolves can still get themselves in the race. Spurs might well be focussing on other targets in other positions right now and with Pereira desperate to sign a new central midfielder for the run in, it could be that Cardoso is his man.
Betis though will surely want a fee in the region of £21.1million for their star midfielder, if a club other than Spurs come in for him. Whether or not Wolves can cough up that kind of money after the Agbadou deal remains to be seen.