Aston Villa have made their transfer desires known, which could spell a small fortune for Wolves.
The Old Gold will be looking at their Midlands rivals and wondering how they have fallen so far behind Villa in a number of aspects.
Gone are the glory days of Nuno Espirito Santo in the West Midlands, with Unai Emery now the glowing figure in the area as he continues to impress in B6.
While there’s been an unfortunate powershift in recent years, it could be Villa who are about to hand Wolves a helping hand in the finance department.
Aston Villa interested in Pedro Goncalves
With just under eight weeks separating now and the opening of the January transfer window, attention in the Premier League is slowly turning to the market.
For Wolves, the January window will be a crucial time as a mass of squad improvements are required to ensure that the club remain in the top-flight.
Reports have also suggested that change is desired at Villa, as Portuguese outlet A Bola informed that the Villans are eyeing former Wolves winger Pedro Goncalves.
The report claims that Villa had scouts present at a recent Sporting CP fixture to watch Goncalves, known as Pote, in action.
Emery’s side have ‘renewed’ their interest in the ex-Wolves outsider but have been warned that Sporting will not offload their star man in January for anything less than his release clause.
With a clause sitting at €80m (£67m), Villa will have to spend big if they are to secure Goncalves’ signature, which makes for good reading for those at Molineux.
Wolves have a sell on clause with Goncalves
Not much was thought about Wolves’ sale of Goncalves for peanuts in 2019, as the versatile attacker departed after a failed stint in England as a budding talent.
Wolves sold the Villa target to Famalicao, who then sold him to Sporting CP just a year later.
What’s encouraging is that Wolves inserted a 20% sell-on clause when Goncalves left, which as per a report in 2021, is active for the Portuguese ace’s next two moves after leaving Molineux.
This means that if Villa were to capture the playmaker for £67m in January, the Villans would hand their Midlands rivals a windfall of around £13m.
It was a smart move for Wolves to insert the clause when Goncalves left, with it rather ironic that it could be the Old Gold’s rivals who provide the profit.