Wolverhampton midfielder João Gomes was expected to join Atletico Madrid this summer, but the 25-year-old Brazilian’s move to La Liga fell through when fellow Jorge Mendes client Bernardo Silva joined Real Madrid after Atleti believed he had committed to joining them.
The resultant bad blood between Atleti and Mendes caused the Gomez deal to also break down, and as a result of that Mendes began to look for a new landing spot for the midfielder. According to reports out of Brazil, that landing spot will
be in the Premier League—and it could be Liverpool.
At least as O Globo see it, the Reds along with historic rivals Manchester United are both interested, and they believe it is a near certainty that Gomes will now move on from Wolves and join one of the two north-west clubs before the close of the summer transfer window.
For United, Gomes represents a pivot from Atalanta midfielder Ederson after he failed a medical, and both they and Liverpool are said to have contacted Wolves over the past week to discuss fee and structure, with the €45M deal previously agreed with Atleti said to provide the baseline.
While Liverpool could use fresh legs in midfield, there are other perhaps more pressing concerns at forward and right back, and if the season kicked off today there would be serious concerns about the competitiveness and capability of the squad constructed by sporting director Richard Hughes.
