Matheus Nunes may have only just made a £42.2 million move to Wolves, but it is already claimed he could be sold within a year, with Liverpool “huge admirers.”
Wolves ended a long run of speculation when they announced a club-record deal to sign Nunes late on Wednesday, becoming the latest Portuguese player at Molineux.
It came following weeks of stories linking the midfielder to Liverpool in his native press, while West Ham saw their advances rejected earlier in the summer.
The agreement with Sporting CP can be seen as something of a coup for Wolves, but as a result, there is an expectation within the club that their new No. 27 may not stay for long.
According to the Telegraph‘s John Percy, the Midlands outfit “recognise that if Nunes continues his progress, they may only get a year out of him.”
However, he adds that, if that is the case, it would be “for a far bigger fee” than the £38 million they have already paid Sporting CP.
Percy describes Liverpool as “huge admirers” of the 23-year-old, who was born in Brazil but already has eight caps for Portugal, one of which has come alongside Diogo Jota.
That would suggest, therefore, that the Reds could monitor Nunes’ progress throughout the season before weighing up a possible transfer in 2023.
However, it would also suggest that there may not have been the funds available to Jurgen Klopp to bring in a new midfielder in the current transfer window, despite the growing need for reinforcement.
It stands to reason that Liverpool would be interested in a player of Nunes’ profile, particularly given their ties to Portugal through sporting director Julian Ward and coaches Pepijn Lijnders and Vitor Matos.
Connections within the Primeira Liga have already seen the club sign Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez over the past eight months, while Marko Grujic was sold to Porto.
Furthermore, Lijnders is considered to have been central to the decision to sign Jota from Wolves in 2020, and Fabio Carvalho was also born in Portugal before emigrating to England with his family as a youngster.
Whether the club’s ongoing interest in Nunes results in a deal next summer remains to be seen, but his progress is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
