A significant development emerged late last night regarding Wolves’ pursuit of Manu Silva.
It was reported on Saturday that Wolves were in talks to sign Manu from Vitoria, with a proposal of around £10 million having been submitted.
It was then claimed that Manu was ‘on his way’ to Wolves and seemingly, it was a signing that looked to be on track.
Given all the speculation about Mario Lemina at the moment, Wolves are clearly in the market for a new midfielder.
But it looks as though Manu will not be coming in now, with Fabrizio Romano dropping a significant claim last night on social media.
Wolves fail with Manu Silva transfer as he agrees Benfica move, European football a ‘big factor’
Late last night on X, Romano reported that Silva is no longer heading to Wolves, but is in actual fact making a move – worth £11.8 million in total – to Benfica.
He wrote: “Benfica agree deal to sign Vitória SC midfielder Manu, winning the race over Wolves! €12m plus €2m add-ons, 20% sell-on clause and Manu will join Benfica now. Deal off with Wolves.”
E&S journalist Liam Keen then shed a bit more light on why Manu chose to join Benfica.
He said that despite Wolves agreeing a fee with Vitoria and personal terms with Manu, the player was sold the prospect of playing European football with Benfica.
It is a blow for Wolves, who are running out of time to get new players in in the January transfer window.
Vitor Pereira said he hopes to sign one or two more players by the end of the window, and if Lemina goes then surely a new midfielder will be needed.
A blow for Wolves with time running out in the transfer window
Considering Manu looked like he would be heading to Molineux, this is a big development and blow for Pereira.
Pereira has said that Lemina apologised to him and the team after refusing to play against Newcastle, so it may well be that he somehow sticks around.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 31 | 48 | -17 | 16 |
In the event of that happening, then Wolves won’t need another midfielder.
But many feel Lemina should leave the club now after what he did, and seemingly Wolves are prepared for that eventuality, given the pursuit of Manu.
To lose out to Benfica is very frustrating, and sporting director Matt Hobbs now has a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks.