Wolves 'now looking at alternatives' to £17.5m target at Molineux | OneFootball

Wolverhampton Wanderers are looking at ‘alternatives’ to Flamengo midfielder Joao Gomes in light of rival interest in his signature, transfer insider Dean Jones has informed GIVEMESPORT.

Julen Lopetegui has enjoyed a busy window so far this month, confirming three additions in the form of Pablo Sarabia, Mario Lemina and Matheus Cunha. At the same time, they have also agreed to a deal for West Ham defender Craig Dawson.

Last week, The Daily Mail reported that Wolves were said to be close to a deal to sign Gomes from Flamengo, beating off interest from Newcastle United in with the move looking like a formality.

Since then, things have taken a dramatic turn, with Foot Mercato now detailing that Lyon have stepped in to usurp Wolves in their pursuit of the 21-year-old.

The Ligue 1 giants are said to have offered a better financial package and a £17.5m fee to acquire the Brazilian, with his current employers now being much more interested in Lyon’s proposal. Discussions between Wolves and Flamengo have now broken down as a result.

Interestingly, Gomes is still pining after a move to the Premier League, having verbally told Wolves that he intends to complete a transfer to Molineux. The player is aggrieved by the whole scenario and may take some convincing to join Lyon in January.

What has Dean Jones said about Joao Gomes?

Transfer insider Dean Jones has detailed that Wolves are now looking at alternative candidates to Gomes due to the deal looking dead in the water.

Jones told GMS: “They have got alternatives on the list; they had so much planned for this window. They’re not going to have time to pull all of it off, but because they had such a build-up to the January window, in terms of actually planning where they wanted to go, they have alternate names that they’re now looking into.”

Do Wolves need to sign any more midfielders this window?

Wolves are fairly well-stocked in midfield, though there is an argument that they could one more body in the engine room to spice things up between now and the end of the season.

Boubacar Traore and Joe Hodge are still relatively inexperienced at 21 and 20, respectively, leaving Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Matheus Nunes as more senior options in the middle of the park.

The process of luring Gomes to Molineux looks as though it may have fallen flat for now, which will potentially prompt Lopetegui to dip into the market for reinforcements this month.

Any prospective deal to bring in the 21-year-old may have run into difficulty regardless, as Brazilian journalist Vene Casagrande via Mundo Deportivo claimed last year that Gomes has a release clause of around £53.5 million at Flamengo just now.