Wolves are reportedly in talks with Jorge Mendes over a potential transfer deal for Sporting CP midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
The 21-year-old joined his current club back in the 2021 summer transfer window from fellow Portuguese side Famalicao.
Since then, the midfielder has gone on to make 61 appearances for Sporting across all competitions, scoring one goal and delivering two assists along the way.
Despite having a few years left on his current contract at the Portuguese club, the youngster has found himself being mentioned with a move to Molineux through his agent, who Wolves are very familiar with.
According to a recent report from French media outlet Media Foot, Mendes is in talks with Wolves and Atletico Madrid over sealing a potential transfer deal for his client.
This season has seen the Uruguay international, who reportedly has a release clause in his contract worth €60m (£52m), show how much of an impressive midfield figure he is on and off the ball.
For example, having successfully completed 540 of 589 attempted passes, he has one of the highest passing accuracies (91.7%) at the club.
In addition to that, Ugarte has also racked up the highest combined total of tackles and interceptions (57) at Sporting, as well as making more blocks (16) than any of his teammates.
His overall performances have earned the midfielder, who has been described as an “outstanding” player by journalist Juan Pablo Romero, a season rating of 6.92/10 from WhoScored, ranking him as the sixth-best player currently at Sporting.
Would you like to see Wolves sign Manuel Ugarte?
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No
Taking all of this into account, we feel that Ugarte would be a very impressive signing for Wolves and give them a long-term midfield option that has the talent to be an important first-team figure, as well as time for him to develop even further.
However, with Atletico Madrid also in talks with Mendes, the lure of playing in Europe with Diego Simeone’s side could make them a more tempting prospect than Wolves.
Moving forward, the Old Gold should do all they can to get Mendes to work out a deal that would see the Sporting star make a move to Molineux – particularly as rumours circle around Matheus Nunes’ future.