Wolves are plotting a bid for Vitoria Guimaraes midfielder Andre Almeida ahead of a crucial summer transfer window for Bruno Lage.
What’s the word?
Portuguese news outlet Jornal de Noticias (via Sport Witness) claim that Wolves are discussing a deal for Almeida as Lage plans a major summer rebuild for next season.
The player could cost £6.8m and at only 21 years old, would represent a shrewd investment.
With his contract due to expire at the end of next season, Wolves may take advantage and try to secure a bargain deal.
Dream Moutinho heir
Lage has had a very solid first season in charge of Wolves, leading the club to a top-half finish despite a poor final few weeks of the campaign derailing some momentum.
He faces a big summer ahead, with the futures of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho uncertain, fresh faces will be guaranteed.
In Almeida, Wolves could have the perfect heir to the 35-year-old maestro. Almeida plays slightly further forward in an attacking midfield role and despite not scoring any goals this campaign, an 86% passing accuracy stat is solid.
The midfielder can also contribute defensively, making on average 1.4 tackles per game and winning 56% of his total duels.
These are extremely similar to Moutinho’s, who has a slightly better pass accuracy (87%) and wins 2.1 tackles per match, although his dominance in duels isn’t as good as Almeida’s (43%).
With that in mind, it's easy to see why he'd make such a good replacement for the Portuguese veteran with his easy on the eye and accurate passing a key attribute when assessing the heir to his midfield throne.
For the aforementioned fee, Lage should be going all out to secure the youngster's services, with Zach Lowy lauding him as “intriguing”, then it could certainly be worth the money.