Porto are eyeing a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Joao Moutinho as negotiations for Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic are ‘dragging’.
That’s according to A Bola, who cover the situation at the Portuguese side today and say the Wolves man is available on a ‘lower salary’.
They explain that there are currently ‘many questions’ about the future of current star Sérgio Oliveira and that has led to the club exploring the possibility of bringing Moutinho back to the club.
There is a ‘mutual desire’ from both Porto and Moutinho to make the move happen for next season, and ‘money will not be a problem’ as he only earns €4m a year at Molineux.
The Wolves man has a profile that manager Sergio Conceição likes, ‘he is technically gifted, has former experience’ and ‘is a positive force in a locker room’.
All in all, he ‘fits like a glove’ in the coach’s strategy, and both Conceição and Porto chief Pinto da Costa agree with the idea.
The only issue is the last year of his contract at Wolves, but that is not an issue that his agent Jorge Mendes cannot solve if the desire for the move is there from all parties, and it seems to be.
His current salary is considered ‘unobtainable’ by Porto, but Moutinho knows this and is willing to lower it and take advantage of the Regressar Program from the government.
That system allows residents of the country who left before 2015 but choose to return to have half of their income exempt from the IRS for five years.
That system was what tempted Pepe to make a return, and Moutinho is equally keen to take advantage of it to return to his former club.
