Wolves are set to miss out on midfielder Nico Gonzalez, with Valencia striking a loan agreement with Barcelona.
It has been only been claimed last night that Valencia had joined the race for the 20-year-old.
But Gennaro Gattuso’s side have seemingly act very quickly, and now it would appear the star is bound for the Mestalla.
According to Fabrizio Romano, an agreement has been reached for Valencia to sign Gonzalez on loan until June 2023.
The player will apparently extend his contract at the Nou Camp before he departs.
There is no buy option for Valencia.
One wonders if that might have proven to be a sticking point for Wolves.
The club’s last few loan deals – such as Francisco Trincao, Hwang Hee-chan, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Willian Jose – have included options to buy. It is very much something Wolves look to do these days.
Wolves will now need to focus their attention elsewhere, with around three weeks remaining in the summer window.
The hope of many Wanderers fans is that Matheus Nunes will be joining the club from Sporting.
But given Wolves have now signed Nathan Collins and Goncalo Guedes for almost £50 million, it might be struggle to sign the maestro. Especially since Wolves have just loaned Conor Coady out rather than selling him and boosting the transfer kitty.
Blow for Wolves as Valencia reach agreement with Barcelona to sign Nico Gonzalez on loan
So it looks as though Gonzalez will be remaining in La Liga for 2022/23, and that makes sense from a Barcelona perspective.
They seemingly still have faith in his potential. That much is evident by the lack of an option to buy clause.
Barca clearly just can’t make him any promises about game time this season. But it seems they want him to stay in the division, with a view to him returning to the Nou Camp ahead of 2023/24.
For Wolves it’s a bit of a shame. Gonzalez is a really exciting, versatile and intelligent young player.
But there are lots of other options out there, and hopefully Molineux recruitment officials are already on the case.