Wolverhampton Wanderers are preparing for life after the Championship triumph and it seems that they are going to go for summer shopping in the next few months. They have been linked with the highly impressive Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Patricio currently plies his trade for Portuguese outfit Sporting CP.
The West Midlands club has been terrific under their new boss as they secured the title and Premier League qualification with ease. They were on top of the table since mid-November and nobody seemed like toppling them from the top spot. However, Nuno Santo will know that the top flight will be a different ball game and his side will need reinforcements in the summer to carry on their climb in English football.
Rui Patricio will certainly be a good bet for the former Porto boss as he is the Portuguese number one and has kept 23 cleans sheets in all competitions this season for his club. However, to bring him in, they will have to fight for his signature with the Italian giants Napoli. Napoli might lose their custodian Pepe Reina to AC Milan in the summer. The Portuguese goalkeeper is currently being valued at €35 m and according to reports, they are not scared to cough up such amount for a goalkeeper.
Patricio played an instrumental part in Portugal’s success in the Euro 2016 and has been his country’s number 1 for past few years. He is set to play an integral part again in the upcoming World cup if Portugal are going to go deep in the tournament.
Wolves currently have John Ruddy as a goalkeeping option and the Englishman hasn’t disappointed this season. He has managed 24 clean sheets this season but that has been largely down to Wolves dominating most of the games. Nevertheless, Ruddy has done the job most of the times when he has been called upon. Patricio will certainly be an upgrade over him but it will be interesting to see whether Nuno Santo will be willing to shell out the quoted amount for the Portuguese stopper.
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Napoli can probably lure him as they can offer him Champions League football and that could turn out to be the biggest obstacle for Wolves. However, one cannot count them out as they have made some big strides in the transfer market, having brought in a brilliant midfielder like Ruben Neves for a club record fee from Porto.
