Wolves complete £12.7m transfer as Fabrizio Romana reports Philippe Coutinho's Aston Villa exit 'agreed'

Wolves have completed the £12.7m signing of Portuguese wideman Rodrigo Gomes.

The 20-year-old Braga ace has penned a five-year deal at Molineux, with the club having the option of another year, after spending the 2023-24 season on loan at Estoril.

The versatile talent leaves Braga with 43 appearances to his name and two goals. Last season at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mot, the Portugal under-21 international featured 30 times in Liga Portugal, scoring seven goals and registering seven assists.

He’s Wolves boss Gary O’Neil’s second signing of the summer after the Old Gold turned Tommy Doyle’s loan from Manchester City into permanent switch.

Welcoming Gomes to Molineux, Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “It’s nice to do one early in the summer, so Rodrigo will be able to join the squad for the first day of pre-season, which is great for the player and the coaching staff – they can work with him from the start. He’s a great character, a great boy and will really fit in.

‘Scouting has taken a while. He’s a player we’ve followed for most of the season, since he first went on loan. He’s a player we know very, very well and have done an awful lot of work on but getting him in has been relatively smooth because Rodrigo was clear that he wanted to come here and is excited.

“It’s not important to get a deal done early if it’s not the right player, but this is the right player. It’s great for the club to do that. He’ll be an important player for us with his versatility, creativity, technical ability and attitude on the pitch. The fans will love him and I’m genuinely really excited to have him here.”

Coutinho’s Villa exit ‘agreed’

Philippe Coutinho’s Aston Villa career looks to be finally over.

According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, both the player and club have mutually agreed to terminate his contract, which has two years remaining.

A return to former club Vasco de Gama is now being worked on as the 32-year-old Brazilian prepares for an emotional homecoming. 

It was initially believed that the attacking midfielder would return to Villa Park from his loan spell with Qatar outfit Al-Duhail SC this summer and head straight to Vasco, also on loan. An obligation to buy for a fee of between £4m and £6m was also expected. However, that anticipated arrangement now looks to be scrapped as a mutual parting of the ways now appears the most likely outcome for the Villa man.

It’s unfortunate it never worked out for Coutinho at Villa Park after he arrived in January 2022 as a global superstar. The 32-year-old fromer Liverpool favourite impressed during an initial loan from Bayern Munich as he netted five and assisted three in 19 games.

But he failed to meet expectations when signed permanently for around £17m, as just one goal in 22 games followed.

His loan spell at Al-Duhail SC produced just three goals and two assists in 16 league appearances.

Countinho’s last game for the club looks set to be Villa’s 4-0 victory over Everton last August.