Portugal international João Moutinho will become a Wolves player
Wolves are set to pull off yet another truly stunning signing, with João Moutinho, Portugal's third most capped player in the nation's entire history, following in Rui Patricio's footsteps by joining the newly-promoted Premier League side.
In what is proving to be another high-profile, and scarcely believable, signing by the West Midlands club, Wolves, who already completed the sensational signing of Rui Patricio from Sporting CP this summer, are to add another top-class player to their ever-growing Portuguese contingent as they prepare for their first season in the English top flight since 2012.
Moutinho, a current international who has played for Portugal an incredible 113 times - only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (154) and Luis Figo (127) in the all-time national leaderboard - joined Monaco from Portuguese side Porto in 2013, playing more than 150 league games for the French club and helping them win the Ligue 1 title in 2017.
Despite only signing a new contract with Monaco in March of this year, which was set to keep the Euro 2016 champion at the French side until 2020, Moutinho, 31, has found himself on the exit list, and Wolves are the beneficiaries, attracting a Champions League pedigree star to their club to join the increasingly illustrious list of players at Nuno Espirito Santo's disposal.
Continuing an emerging trend
The first indication that Moutinho was on his way out of Monaco came on Saturday afternoon, when the Portuguese legend was not even named as a substitute in Monaco's 3-2 defeat to Paderborn, raising suspicions that the long-time servant of the French club was to be departing prematurely.
Moutinho, a Jorge Mendes client, continues the trend of players moving from Monaco to Wolves, following in the path of compatriots Ivan Cavaleiro, who joined Wolves from Monaco in 2016, and 19-year old Ruben Vinagre, who only this summer returned to the Premier League club from the Ligue 1 side after a promising loan spell in Wolves' promotion season last year.
Indeed, Moutinho is to become the seventh Portuguese player to be in and around Wolves' senior side, joining Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Helder Costa at the club, in addition to 73-time Portugal international Rui Patricio and the ex-Monaco duo Cavaleiro and Vinagre. Pedro Goncalves and new signing Paulo Alves are two other Portuguese players at the club, who will likely play in the youth side next season, while centreback Roderick Miranda is currently out on loan at Olympiakos after an underwhelming debut season at Molineux.
The prospect of having Moutinho and Ruben Neves as the new-look partnership in Wolves' central midfield will no doubt be getting Wolves fans across the country very excited indeed, with few Premier League sides able to compete with such quality in the middle of the park. The signing also further indicates the pulling power the club now has, and the truly appealing project that is being built at Wolves which is enabling such high-profile players to be attracted by their proposal and continue to choose to join their club.
An exciting season should therefore be in store for both Wolves fans and Portugal fans alike from all over the world.
