Wolves have made a formal offer to sign Sporting midfielder Matheus Nunes in recent days, but the Portugal international is holding out for a move to Liverpool.
That’s according to Correio da Manha (via Paisley Gates) who claim Wolves have presented an acceptable offer to the Primeira Liga outfit.
However, despite the reported agreement between Wolves and Sporting, Nunes is believed to be reluctant to make the switch to the Molineux club.
Instead, the 23-year-old, who has a release clause of £50.4 million in his contact, would like to link up with Jürgen Klopp.
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Wolves have notoriously enjoyed great success at acquiring the services of Portuguese players due to their links with super-agent Jorge Mendes.
But Nunes does not want to follow the path of the likes of Pedro Neto, Ruben Neves, and current Liverpool star Diogo Jota joining the West Midlands club.
His preference is to fast track his way to the top by joining a big Premier League club. Manchester City are also said to be keeping tabs on the player.
Liverpool would be more than wise to pursue a deal for Nunes.
He’d offer something to the Liverpool engine room they currently have very little of, technical quality.
Thiago is the only out and out deep playmaker within Klopp's engine room. Fabinho is more of a defensive minded anchor, whereas Jordan Henderson prefers to occupy a box-to-box role.
Having Nunes around would help Jürgen Klopp sleep a little easier if Thiago were to pick up a serious injury this term.
And while he hasn’t been with Liverpool for long, it’s easy to forget Thiago is already 31 years old and thus entering the twilight era of his career.
He’ll need to be replaced sooner rather than later. Why not look for a replacement now who can not only provide cover for him, but also learn from him?
The Liverpool midfield is a bit thin on the ground in terms of quality heading into the 2022/23 season and signing Nunes would go some way towards nullifying that issue.
If Jürgen Klopp reaches the same conclusion, Nunes will be pleased he waited for Liverpool to act.
Robert Worthington