Aston Villa have completed the signing of Joao Gomes from Wolves in a deal worth £38m.
The Brazil international joins for an initial £34m, with a further £4m in add-ons. He becomes Unai Emery’s second midfield addition in the space of four days.
The move caps a rapid rebuild in the centre of the pitch. Gomes follows Johan Manzambi, who arrived from Freiburg on Friday in a club-record deal worth £59.5m. Villa beat Newcastle to the Switzerland youngster.
Emery moved quickly out of necessity. Amadou Onana is set to miss much of the coming season after suffering a serious knee injury with Belgium at the World Cup, while Boubacar Kamara has also endured a lengthy absence.
The reshape has coincided with major sales, too. Youri Tielemans joined Manchester United for £35m, and Morgan Rogers is completing a British-record £117m switch to Chelsea. Those departures left gaps Emery was determined to fill.
Aston Villa sign Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes in £38m deal
Villa saw off competition to land Gomes. Atletico Madrid had been keen, but the 25-year-old left Wolves’ pre-season camp in Portugal to complete his medical at Bodymoor Heath and finalise the move.
His arrival adds real steel to the midfield. Gomes made 130 appearances for Wolves after joining from Flamengo in 2023, scoring seven goals, and was named their Player of the Year despite the club finishing bottom of the Premier League.
Wolves accepted the sale as part of their model. “Joao deserves everything he gets from the game,” said technical director Matt Jackson. “He’s a model professional and a lovely young man. We’re sorry to see him go, but we have to take responsible decisions for the football club.”
The switch offers Gomes a significant step up. At 25, he will sample Champions League football for the first time, with Villa returning to Europe’s elite competition after last season’s fourth-place finish.
Emery’s business may not be finished, either. Villa remain keen on Bayern Munich’s Joao Palhinha, while Lucas Digne could leave with Paris Saint-Germain poised to trigger his release clause.
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