One year before Carlos Vinícius signed for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2020, the striker had been heavily linked with a Wolverhampton Wanderers move which never happened.
Those talks with the Molineux side are today recalled by newspaper Correio da Manhã, who bring some details regarding an ongoing investigation into his agent Jorge Mendes.
The outlet managed to have access to a conversation the representative had with manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was in charge of Napoli at the time, and was speaking about the striker.
That was in the summer of 2019 and Carlos Vinícius was leaving the Italian side. It’s stated Mendes told Ancelotti that no one wanted to buy the Brazilian, and only two clubs could make the signing.
“They are my friends, otherwise no one buys him, it’s impossible,” the agent is quoted as saying, referring to Benfica and Wolves.
So the initial plan was to move Carlos Vinícius to Wolves, and that didn’t happen because of the lack of a work permit, as he didn’t have enough caps for the Brazilian national team.
The move to Benfica was an ‘alternative’, and the Eagles finally paid €17m to sign the striker. They never seemed interested in keeping him for a long time, and despite one year with them, the player was sent on loan to Tottenham Hotspur, and is now having a spell at PSV, with both moves including an option for a purchase.
His contract with the Eagles runs until 2024.
