Nuno Espírito Santo has guided Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the Championship and with the success in England’s second tier club competition, Wolves have sealed a berth in the Premier League for the 2018/19 season.
Wolves are aware they need to further improve the squad in order to avoid relegation back to the Championship. They have set their sights on climbing further up and to achieve the target, they need to make quality additions.
Accoridng to Sky Sport Italia, Wolves have set their sights on signing AC Milan striker Andre Silva and Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio in the summer transfer window. The 22-year-old striker is identified as a priority target for the newly promoted side.
Silva moved to Milan from FC Porto in the summer of 2017. The Portuguese international has struggled in his debut season for the San Siro outfit, managing only two goals in Serie A, but has six goals to his name in the Europa League.
Gennaro Gattuso has the services of Silva, Suso, Hakan Calhanoglu, Patrick Cutrone, Nikola Kalinic and Fabio Borini as the attacking players at Milan. The latter two are currently on loan and the Rossoneri are likely to bring in new players in the summer.
The striker’s display has not been convincing for Milan and there is a possibility that he could be allowed to leave the club. Silva has played under Espírito Santo in the 2016/17 season at Porto. Wolves manager could reunite with his former player, if the English side manage to land the striker.
That claim has been well trodden, starting first as a Twitter idea and then gaining strength because of the Jorge Mendes connection. In March we covered a claim from Portugal that Mendes had ‘reminded’ Milan there was interest from Wolves and Monaco.
Meanwhile, it’s also claimed Wolves are also looking at the option of signing Patricio. The Portuguese international goalkeeper is a transfer target for Napoli, who have identified the Sporting star as a replacement for Pepe Reina.
The former Liverpool stopper’s contract at the Italian capital club will expire after this season. He is likely to leave Napoli as a free agent, meaning the Gli Azzurri will be forced to sign a goalkeeper after this campaign.
Tuesday’s edition of A Bola had a big feature on Patricio and mentioned several English clubs as being keen, Wolves weren’t one of them. However, now the matter has been raised, expect the Portuguese media to run with it.
The goalkeeper isn’t represented by Mendes, and Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho isn’t likely to offer the agent a fee to get a sale. Bruno, who is a bit of a character, will be crucial in any Patricio move.
