Exactly seven days ago, Portimonense president Rodiney Sampaio spoke to Portuguese radio about Wolves’ efforts to sign Shoya Nakajima.
Sampaio made it very clear there was something in the earlier claims, saying: “There has been a conversation, but it is not yet 100% finalised, but it is possible already in January. What is at issue is the payment of the entire termination clause or not, so it has not been finished. Nakajima is 80% at Wolverhampton.
“It’s a great sporting loss for us. Nakajima is a great player, he has adapted very well to Portimonense. We’ll all regret his departure, the squad but also the fans. It turns out we had no chance of holding him.”
The original claims suggested Wolves would be signing the Japan international on a €20m deal, despite him having a €40m buyout clause. Portuguese clubs outside of the big three, Benfica, Porto and Sporting, tend to struggle to get big fees and are often walked all over.
Thursday’s edition of Record quotes him as 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.”
Record says other clubs are interested, and Portimonense are looking for better terms.
Sampaio explained the possibilities: “One of them is the continuity of Nakajima until the end of the season, because we believe he will play for Japan in the Asian Cup [January], and he can raise his value even higher.”
