Aston Villa have completed the signing of Brazil midfielder João Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers in a £38m deal. The 25-year-old, who has earned 10 caps for his country, ends a three-and-a-half-year stay at Molineux where he made 130 appearances following his arrival from Flamengo.
The recruitment of Gomes accelerates a significant reshaping of Villa’s midfield. The move follows Youri Tielemans’s departure to Manchester United and comes amid advanced negotiations for Morgan Rogers, with the forward on the verge of a £117m transfer to Chelsea.
United strengthen options
Manchester United have secured the signature of 18-year-old winger Tynan Thompson from Tottenham Hotspur. The agreement is worth an initial £4m and could rise by a further £4m through performance-related add-ons. Tottenham retain matching rights and a 15% sell-on clause for the England under-18 international, who contributed 13 goals and six assists for Spurs’ youth teams last season.
Manager Michael Carrick is simultaneously monitoring defensive reinforcements to provide competition for Luke Shaw at left-back. The club are tracking Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall and Fulham’s Antonee Robinson. Hall, 21, has four England caps and recently completed a permanent transfer to St James’ Park for £28m plus add-ons, with his contract running until 2029. Robinson, who turns 29 next month, joined Fulham from Wigan Athletic in 2020 and featured for the USA at the World Cup under Mauricio Pochettino.
Injury concern for Martínez
United face an anxious wait over defender Lisandro Martínez after the Argentine sustained an injury during his nation’s 1-0 World Cup final defeat to Spain. Martínez was forced off after 41 minutes, with the severity of the problem yet to be determined by the club’s medical staff.
Wolves technical director Matt Jackson paid tribute to Gomes’s professionalism. “João deserves everything he gets from the game,” Jackson said. “He’s the type of professional that coaches love and players love, so he will go on to be the outstanding player that we know he is.”