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Portuguese International Won’t Rule Out A Wolves Arrival

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Wolverhampton Wanderers have been linked with Portugal international Joao Cancelo for a bit now.

Our interest appeared to be a punt for a while as we tapped into Jorge Mendes’ knowledge for players that could continue to improve us under Fosun’s ownership following our Championship title win and promotion into the Premier League.

The story has now taken on a slightly different twist, however. Previous reports suggested he favoured a move to Italy and had turned our approach down, but it’s now said those claims are wide of the mark.

The 24-year-old right back had been on loan from Valencia to Inter Milan last season, but they failed to tie him down to a permanent deal and the rumour mill had us in with Juventus for his services. It’s also further suggested we have already matched the asking price for the player.

The Birmingham Mail via Calciomercato yesterday reported that although Juve appear to be in the better position, the player himself hasn’t yet ruled us out.

“Wolverhampton and Juventus? At the moment I do not exclude anything, certainly playing in the Champions League is my goal. I have a contract with Valencia until 2021, so without a club I do not stay anything. Until I don’t have an official and concrete proposal I can not say anything. Before the end of the season I heard that Inter wanted to buy me outright and that were in contact with Valencia to do it, but then nothing happened.”

Fair enough, some will say he’s not specifically addressing us and it’s a stretch to get to the headline. But for me the ‘Wolverhampton’ is enough to make the stretch and possibly more tellingly, not taking the ‘polite but dismiss’ angle speaks volumes for how people outside of the UK could potentially now be viewing the club after last season’s arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo and the transfer dealings we’ve already made.

Champions League sticks out obviously but he looks to be searching for a home so he can make the next step in club football, so why not possibly delay his aims for a season – enjoy the riches the Premier League brings all players – and make it more of a project to get there.

Either way, the interview rubbishes the claims being pushed by some that he had rejected a move to us in favour of Juventus, so we’ll have to see if anything comes of it.

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