Wolves force Champions League club to wait to avoid repeating £69m transfer mistake

A club playing in the Champions League next season are reportedly awaiting the decision of Gary O'Neil as they consider moving for a Wolves player.

According to Record, one of Portugal's leading newspapers, Sporting are still pushing to sign Chiquinho but are awaiting the decision of head coach Gary O'Neil. Record say that talks are ongoing with Chiquinho waiting for the ‘green light’.

A transfer has been put on hold for the time being however as O’Neil runs the rule over Chiquinho to see if he features in his plans for the upcoming season. Chiquinho is currently out in Marbella with the squad for their warm weather training camp.

The 23-year-old spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Famalicao, despite initially joining Stoke City. He notched up five goals and two assists in 27 games last term in the Portuguese top-flight.

Chiquinho, signed for an initial £2.9m which could rise to £4.2m, is under contract at Molineux until the summer of 2026. Wolves could consider loaning him out again if he doesn't feature in O'Neil's plans with the Portugal under-21 international in competition with both Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto.

The report also adds that Wolves don't want to repeat the same mistake that they did with Pedro Goncalves. Goncalves was sold by Wolves to Famalicao for a reported £1m, having failed to make an impact under Nuno Espirito Santo.

After returning to Portugal, Goncalves turned out to be a success. He got seven goals and eight assists for Famalicao and that attracted the attention of Sporting CP, one of the biggest clubs in the country.

Sporting signed him in the summer of 2020 for a fee of around €6.5 million, and since then his value has gone up. He's gone on to play 178 games, getting 76 goals and 51 assists. According to the Portuguese press, Goncalves has a has an €80million (£69million) release clause in his contract with the Primeira Liga club, with both Aston Villa and West Ham said to be interested.

In other news, the Express & Star have reported that Wolves don’t hold an interest in signing Sheffield United pair Anel Ahmedhodzic or Gus Hamer. Liam Keen, the leading reporter for our sister paper says the reports were 'wide of the mark' and that the club are not interested in deals for either player.