Joao Gomes is close to completing a £35m move from Wolves to Midlands rivals Aston Villa, reports BirminghamLive.
Gomes was expected to leave Molineux this summer following Wolves’ relegation to the Championship.
However, the Brazilian returned to pre-season with Wolves despite interest from La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish side had been expected to firm up their interest in the Brazil international during the off-season.
It now looks as though Villa have stolen a march on Atletico in the race to land the 25-year-old, who’d also attracted watchful glances from Manchester United.
Villa undergoing midfield revamp
Gomes is expected to jet back to England to wrap up the final details of the move as the Villans undergo a midfield revamp.
The Europa League winners are expected to be without Amadou Onana for most of the 2026/27 season after the Belgian suffered an ACL injury while on World Cup duty with the Red Devils.
And to compound matters, Villa were forced into selling prized asset Youri Tielemans to Premier League rivals United after the Manchester giants triggered the £35m release clause in the 29-year-old’s contract.
Villans closing in on Manzambi
Unai Emery’s side, though, are close to confirming the signing of Swiss star Johan Manzambi from German outfit Freiburg.
The 20-year-old had been set for a move to Newcastle but Villa managed to hijack the deal for the Switzerland international, who is expected to wrap up his move this week.
Manzambi was one of the stars of the 2026 World Cup as he scored three goals and provided two assists on the way to Switzerland’s quarter-final exit at the hands of defending champions Argentina.
Argentina booked their spot in the 2026 World Cup final as they beat England 2-1 in Atlanta on Wednesday.
They’ll take on Spain at the New York New Jersey Stadium after La Roja got the better of France in the other semi-final.
