Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly in talks to sign Sporting CP's 23-year-old midfielder, Matheus Nunes.

That is according to a journalist in Portugal, who claimed earlier this week that the Old Gold were "on the heels" of the midfielder.

Taking to Twitter, the reporter said: "Wolverhampton on the heels of Matheus Nunes. New talks are underway to define the future of the Sporting midfielder, who for months has also been accompanied by Manchester City - remember that Guardiola recently considered the Portuguese-Brazilian one of the best players in the world"

On the chalkboard

As was covered in the initial report, Guardiola is a big fan of the Sporting starlet and for good reason.

When City and Sporting played in the first leg of the Champions League, even though his side were hammered 5-0, Matheus did not put a foot wrong and made the most amount of accurate passes out of the whole Sporting XI with 40 completed at a percentage of 87%.

His total in that game surpassed the likes of Bernardo Silva and saw him fall just eight passes short of Kevin De Bruyne. Even more impressively, Sporting had just 36% possession overall.

The performance against Guardiola's side is an indicator as to what kind of player he is, covering both sides of the game well and he even had the Spaniard waxing lyrical about him, claiming he is "one of the best players in the world."

His ability to keep the ball under pressure is one his greatest assets, which was again demonstrative in the aforementioned Champions League performance.

What will intrigue Wolves fans, though, is his ability to operate comfortably in a 3-4-2-1 system that looks to dominate the ball, having averaged 60% possession this season under Ruben Amorim.

Lage plays a similar system and aims to dictate play, but has struggled to do so this season, having averaged 49.9% possession in the Premier League. As such, he could get great use out of a player who is better in possession than the potentially departing Leander Dendoncker.

The Belgium international has struggled to keep the ball this season, averaging just 5.87 passes under pressure per 90, faltering to that of Nunes' outstanding average of 10.45 per 90.

The Portuguese starlet's match average of 0.53 goal-creating actions sees him achieve elite status, considering his position in comparison to similar players across the last year, with Dendoncker also registering a highly respectable 0.42 goal-creating actions per 90, with the caveat that he has functioned as an attacking midfielder on a few occasions this season.

£34m Nunes could well be the answer to Lage's new look engine room, though the Old Gold will need to move quick amidst interest from Pep's side.

In other news: Wolves now plot bid for “flourishing” £20m gem, he’s better than Moutinho