Wolves came close to signing in-demand Carlos Vinicius - who is now set to join Benfica
Carlos Vinicius was a real target of Wolves earlier this window, and an agreement was in place to secure his signature.
Vinicius, 24, has been linked with a range of clubs over the last few months, his time at Napoli always anticipated to be coming to an end this summer, with clubs from Germany, France and Spain competing for the Napoli striker.
However, it was Wolverhampton Wanderers that were the club that came closest to completing the signing of the Brazilian striker, actively working to bring him to the club.
Indeed, Wolves were on the brink of signing Vinicius for a fee in the region of 18 million euros earlier this window, negotiations to bring him to Molineux practically closed, with Jorge Mendes, although not the player’s agent, believed to be playing a critical role in proceedings.
However, as Portuguese channel TVI24 have confirmed, the transfer fell through after Vinicius failed to obtain a work permit for a move to England, not having the required credentials to earn the required visa to work in the country.
This will have been due to his lack of appearances for Brazil, having not even represented his country at youth level, while his lack of top flight experience will have also worked against him.
As such, the move to the English Premier League outfit broke down.
Instead, Vinicius is now on his way to Portuguese champions Benfica, with an agreement in place to sign him for approximately 17 million euros.
The Brazilian forward spent the first half of last season on loan at Rio Ave, and was highly impressive, grabbing 14 goals - and 2 assists - in 20 matches across all competitions for the mid-table Primeira Liga club.
His impressive endeavours in Portugal meant that he was recalled from his loan from Napoli, and sent instead to Monaco for the remainder of the campaign. That stint in France didn’t prove as productive though, as he was given just 511 minutes of action across 16 league games - that’s an average of just 32 minutes a game.
