Wolves are now showing a strong interest in a defender they tried to sign during Bruno Lage's time in charge as they look to bolster their ranks ahead of the new season.
O'Neil needs summer additions
After working miracles with a threadbare squad last season and guiding Wolves well clear of the relegation zone and into Premier League midtable, Gary O'Neil will be desperate for additions.
They have already managed one, with Portuguese youngster Rodrigo Gomes set to move to Molinuex this summer and sign a five year deal with the Midlands outfit.
The deal, which is expected to be made official this week, will see the Old Gold once more plunder Portugal and snap up a versatile option, with Gomes ostensibly a right back but having played all the way up both flanks during his loan spell at Estoril and appeared just once in his favoured role.
Gomes shows his versatility
Position
Games played
Right midfield
16
Right back
1
Right winger
9
Left midfield
14
Left wing
9
There remains plenty to do at Molineux though, with a striker high on the agenda after being forced to ulitise youth players at points of last season as injuries ripped through the front line.
There is also a need for another defender, with Craig Dawson now 34-years-old and unlikely to be able to continue turning in impressive performances on a regular basis, leaving the club with just Toti, Santiago Bueno and captain Max Kilman, who played every minute of the 2023-24 season. With that in mind, it seems Wolves are ready to revisit an old transfer target.
Carmo wanted by Wolves
That comes in the shape of Porto defender David Carmo, who has spent the second half of the season season on loan with Greek side Olympiacos,
Once very highly thought of to the point that he had "a foot and a half at Liverpool" before they pulled the plug, the left-footed centre back endured a tough couple of years with Porto but has seen his career revitalised in Greece.
He played every minute of the Conference League knockout stages as he helped them to their first ever European title, keeping a clean sheet in the final as they defeated Fiorentina with the help of extra time.
Now though, he is set to return to Porto, where he doesn't appear to be in Sérgio Conceição's thinking, and could move on this summer. Still just 24-years-old, Portuguese outlet Record claim that Wolves have held 'exploratory contacts' with Porto over a move for the towering defender, who stands at a mammoth six foot five inches tall.
Also named as keen are newly-promoted Leicester City, but Wolves' interest is far more longstanding. In fact, they tried to sign the centre-back during Bruno Lage's time at the club back in 2022, before he moved to Porto in a deal worth close to £20m.
Wolves to open talks to sign £8m-rated Rodrigo Gomes partner
O’Neil’s side are operating effectively as they line up another transfer.
ByAngus Sinclair
Two years on, it is unlikely that Porto would accept much of a discount on that price even if he has struggled with them, with Carmo still having three years left to run on his £19,000 per week deal in Portugal and praised for his "rare" qualities when he was linked with Liverpool.
With that in mind, and given that both he and the Wolves captain are left-footed, and Kilman has missed just one game in two seasons, any move for Carmo may be a knock-on effect of losing their skipper amid interest from Manchester United.
