Wolverhampton Wanderers, who begin the 2024/25 Premier League season against last season’s runners-up Arsenal, have welcome versatile right-side player, Rodrigo Gomes, to the team. However, they could lose South Korean attacker Hwang Hee-chan as a result.
Gomes was the subject of transfer interest from a number of Premier League clubs but the young Portuguese right winger who is also adept at playing on both sides of the pitch whether in attack or defence, chose to play for the Molineux outfit.
“[Atlético] Madrid wanted me but I always preferred Wolves, there was interest from other clubs but I was never close to signing for anyone, just for Wolves,” Gomes said to journalists who covered his first training session with the Old Gold in Marbella, Spain. “It’s the best league in the world and Wolves have a good history with Portuguese players.”
The 21-year-old was in Gary O’Neil’s side that faced Serie A team Como 1907 in a pre-season-friendly showcase in the Spanish city. He and the club’s other summer signings – Pedro Lima and Jørgen Strand Larsen – started the game and put in a good shift before being subbed off at half-time.
One of the players in Wolves’ second XI for the Como friendly, Hee-chan, is the player who he will be competing with in the coming season. However, that competition may not even happen thanks to reports of the South Korean accepting to move to Olympique de Marseille.
The Molineux outfit had earlier rejected a £21 million bid for the forward from the historic French club but Hee-chan agreed to personal terms with them. This now puts Wolves in a situation where they have to negotiate with Marseille for the player, with sources claiming that the Premier League side will accept nothing less than £30 million.
Wolves also have to deal with the possibility of losing Pedro Neto this summer, which makes Hee-chan’s desire to move to France a big issue for them even though they have signed Gomes. O’Neil will not want to lose two of his best players in one summer window to rely on an unproven talent in a very important season for him (his first with the club after pre-season).
Gomes has also spoken up about the possibility of the club losing Neto in the ongoing transfer window. The 21-year-old wants to play with his countryman and hopes that Wolves can keep him.
“Pedro is from Braga and I grew up in Braga, when Pedro came to Wolves I followed him a lot because he’s from Braga, the same position as me and I like his style of play,” Gomes said. “I saw him and tried to learn from the things he did on the pitch. I was always inspired.”
“For me, yes (I want him to stay at Wolves), because then I can learn from him more closely as a team-mate and because he’s a top player who will help us a lot.”
