On December 6th, we covered a claim from Portugal that Shoya Nakajima was on the verge of becoming a Wolves player and that an announcement on the transfer was only days away.
The Premier League club were said to be in the final stages of talks to sign the Japan international and complete a deal which would be worth €20m to Portimonense.
On the same day the Portuguese club’s president Rodiney Sampaio spoke publicly about the potential deal, saying “Nakajima is 80% at Wolverhampton” and explaining only the payment details were left to be sorted out.
It quickly became clear that those payment details were crucial, with Sampaio perhaps pushing his luck and wanting close to the player’s €40m buyout clause.
A week later, he spoke again, saying: “I said last week that there was a 20 percent gap to close the transfer of Nakajima to Wolverhampton and since then no step has been taken.”
On December 16th, it was reported in Portugal that Wolves were the ‘closest’ to the signing, but faced some competition.
The Christmas Eve edition of Record claims that Wolves have gone ‘cool’ on the transfer and identified RB Leipzig’s Bruma as an alternative. It’s explained the Premier League club are concerned about Nakajima being away at the Asian Cup until February.
Shakhtar Donetsk, PSG, Sevilla and Turkish clubs are said to be ‘attentive’.
Something doesn’t quite sit right here. Wolves would have been well aware of the Asian Cup before now.
