Hobbs | 'What got the deal done, was the player'

Sporting director Matt Hobbs says the move to bring Joao Gomes to Wolves wouldn’t have been possible without the determination and hunger of the player himself.

Following a lengthy scouting and recruitment process, Wolves finally got their man, with the highly rated Brazilian joining the club on a long-term contract, leaving him grateful and excited for the opportunity now ahead of him.

Hobbs praised scouting coordinator Elliot Sutcliffe and Julen Lopetegui for their roles in the club’s sixth signing of the window, with the head coach’s “phenomenal” meetings with the midfielder playing a key role in the acquisition, according to Hobbs.

On bringing Gomes to Molineux

“It feels like it’s been forever, even though it’s only been a couple of weeks. In truth, it started back in August 2021 when our scouting coordinator Elliot Sutcliffe, who was covering South America at the time. When he first saw him, from the first viewing, he said he was one to keep an eye on, with an interesting profile.

“We’ve watched all his games since and got in touch with his agent in the last window to see what the situation was, so he’s always been a player on our list, who we’d like to sign at some stage.”

On the signing process

“It’s well publicised that we thought we had a deal sorted a couple of weeks ago, but what’s been great, and probably what’s got the deal done, has been the player. He’s turned down a more lucrative offer at another club because he always said he gave his word, he always wanted to come to Wolves since talking to Julen and I, so he’s kept his word and stayed strong. Without the player taking the stance he did, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

On the scouting work involved

“We have to look wide, especially with breakthrough profiles, but the scouting team are watching hundreds of players at a time and the majority fall by the wayside; they either move early, the figure might be too high, or they might not reach the level we expect.

“Most players we sign, there has been at least one year gone into it. We’re now looking at players for next winter, whilst we’ve been doing this winter, as well as the summer. We need to try and get to where we’re always working a window ahead. Now with the squad we’ve been able to build, we’re in a position going forward where we can start to get back to where we want to be, working ahead.”

On the appeal of Wolves

“It’s the club, the way it’s sold to him; it’s the manager, it’s how he talks to them when he speaks to them and it’s the project and the Premier League. With who we are, it’s never going to be money, we’ll never sign players based on money, offering a better deal than somewhere else. We want players who want to come to us for who we are as a club and a city. I think the fans want players who represent them and their football club.”

On Lopetegui’s influence

“What’s been great was that it wasn’t a player Julen was aware of himself before coming here. When we were talking about other players, we put him in as a player we liked, so he went away to watch his games and loved him, so has pushed from that minute.

“He’s been key in driving it, it was a player he wanted to bring in, and when he speaks to them, he’s phenomenal. The way he talks, with passion, passion he’s already got for the football club. This is a guy who has worked as some of the biggest clubs in the world, but the way he talks about our club, it makes you want to sign on the same call.”

On Gomes around the place

“He’s so happy, smiling, grateful, whilst at the same time, just wants to get going. All the other bits are over now, and he wants it to be about football.

“What’s interesting in the makeup of our squad, I think the boys from South America, of all the Premier League squads, see adapting to our environment as probably the easiest due to the languages and nationalities. We’ve got so many Spanish and Portuguese speakers, and his English is better than I expected, but our squad is full of good people with great family units. You couple the ease of the language, alongside the type of people in our environment, it makes it very easy to adapt.”

On him being suited to the Premier League

“He’s got energy and is physical, he can play in a six or an eight, and has the Brazilian technicality. For us, it’s a player that has all the attributes to make it in the Premier League.

“I think we have to accept he’s a young boy coming from Brazil, into the best league in the world. He needs time to adapt and to get settled because his wife hasn’t travelled with him yet, she’ll be across in a couple of weeks, and he’s not played a game for two months. It’s their pre-season he’s just gone through, so he’s been training, but no games.

“We have to allow him time to settle, adapt and get his match fitness and speed up. For us, this is a long-term signing, someone we’re really excited about for the next few years and has all the ability to be a Brazilian national team player.”

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