Duncan Castles has been discussing Wolverhampton Wanderers’ transfer activity during a recent episode of the Transfer Window podcast.
The journalist reported that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are working on a deal to sign Tomas Esteves, a right-back from Portuguese giants FC Porto. Earlier in the window, defender Matt Doherty departed the club to join Tottenham Hotspur in a deal reportedly worth £15.12m (as per Transfermarkt.co.uk).
Esteves has made just three first-team appearances to date for Porto, but judging by Castles’ comments, he’s heard positive things about the 18-year-old. Here is what he had to say:
“They’re working on a deal for another Porto player, the right-back Tomas Esteves, who is an 18-year-old – again, very little experience in the Porto first team. Someone I spoke to thinks he might be the best of the bunch, said he is an absolute serious talent as a right-back. Obviously, they need a right-back to replace Matt Doherty.”
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According to Transfermarkt, the right-back is currently valued at £7.2m, and when you consider how little first-team football he has played, that in itself suggests he is very highly rated. Wolves recently had a bid turned down for Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who can also play at full-back – so it is clearly an area of the team in which Nuno Espirito Santo is looking to strengthen.
Esteves has made one appearance for the Portuguese Under-21 side to date and has been a junior international since turning out for his country at Under-15 level in April 2017 (via Transfermarkt.co.uk).
Given Wolves’ recent capture of Fabio Silva for a club-record fee of £35.6m (as per BBC Sport), it’s clear the Old Gold are looking to build for the future and the young right-back looks as though he could be the next Portuguese-based player to swap the sun for Wolverhampton.