We had thought Rui Patricio to Napoli could be boxed off and the Wolves rumours forgotten, but Diario de Noticias have ruined all of that.
In a Thursday article, the Portuguese newspaper claims, according to their own information, that there’s been a ‘total turnaround’ in talks and Patricio is now ‘much closer’ to signing for Wolves than Napoli.
This is because new Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti is said to prefer PSG’s Alphonse Areola, who it’s pointed out he worked with at the French club.
Diario de Noticias state: ‘It is early to say that Rui Patrício will not be, as has been reported, a reinforcement of Naples, but it will be more prudent to say that the Portuguese goalkeeper is much closer to Wolverhampton, an English club trained by Nuno Espirito Santo’
It’s claimed a deal to take Patricio to Napoli had been almost done, with the Italian club ready to pay Sporting €18m and then a further €2m after 20 appearances. Wolves were earlier willing to go as high as €35m, according to the newspaper, but the goalkeeper’s price dropped after Sporting’s crisis situation got much worse and fans attacked players.
Ancelotti is said to have Areola as his preference, but is also keen on German goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Keeping things open, but pushing Patricio towards Wolves, Diario de Noticias add: ‘The market is usually a box of surprises, and it’s a good idea not to take for granted the departure of Patricio to Wolverhampton or completely rule out the Naploli hypothesis for the 30-year-old.
‘However, at the time of closing of this edition, Patricio was very well directed to be a reinforcement of Wolverhampton and to reinforce the Portuguese brigade composed of Roderick, Ruben Vinagre, Ruben Neves, Ivan Cavaleiro, Hélder Costa and Jota.’
Are they covering all bases or is this a big boost for Wolves? Time should tell, hopefully pretty quickly, with the claims also suggesting it could be done before the World Cup.
