Wolverhampton Wanderers are considering a bid for a low-cost midfield target this summer.

What's the word?

That is according to a report by Portuguese publication Jornal de Noticias (via Sport Witness), who claim that Bruno Lage's side could well be on the hunt for lower-cost signings amidst reports that the Molineux side "need to bring in funds" before they can make an official offer for Matheus Nunes.

Should Lage's side's reported struggle for funds this summer, Vitoria de Guimaraes' 22-year-old midfielder Andre Almeida has reemerged as a potential target with the report stating that the Wolves boss and Fosun have "taken an interest."

Almeida is valued between €4m (£3.4m) and €6m (£5m).

The new Moutinho

The "intriguing" Almeida - as dubbed by Zach Lowy - could quickly be integrated within the Old Gold first team having featured 31 times for the Liga Portugal side in 2021/22.

His average of 2.4 successful dribbles per 90 is better than Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves’ averages combined – with the Wolves pairs' 0.5 and 0.9 respective averages totalling 1.4 successful dribbles per game. Almeida’s returns are actually around that of a winger, with his average last term also beating the likes of Daniel Podence, who registered 2.1 per fixture.

Lage’s side lack a progressive central option that can consistently progress the ball. Almeida would allow them to be more direct in the attacking transition and allow them to build on the measly total of 41 big chances created – a metric that ranked the Portuguese manager's outfit as the fourth-worst in the Premier League last season.

His consistency as a main-stay in the heart of the engine room could see him become a Moutinho-like presence and would not only offer Lage a method of future-proofing his side but would also act as an instant method of bolstering competition for first-team places in Wolves 2022/23 campaign.

AND in other news: Lage now heading for big Wolves transfer disaster on "unplayable" £18m-rated "machine"