Manchester City are eyeing up some late transfer business with Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes now a major target for Pep Guardiola’s team. Here’s a look at how much Matheus Nunes is worth and how much City may end up paying for his services.
24 year old Nunes was born in Brazil but plays his international football for Portugal having announced his arrival as one of Europe’s brightest young midfielders during a three year spell at Sporting Lisbon.
That was enough to convince Wolves to make him the latest in a long line of Portuguese signings last summer. The midfielder enjoyed a solid first year in England, making 30 Premier League starts for the West Midlands club and he has played every minute so far in the 2023/24 campaign.
Wolves are bracing themselves for a difficult campaign following the departure of boss Julen Lopetegui and they’ve lost their two opening league fixtures under the recently appointed Gary O'Neil. Losing Matheus Nunes at the end of the transfer window would be another crushing blow that would surely only plunge them further into a relegation battle.
How much is Matheus Nunes worth?
Matheus Nunes joined Wolves from Sporting Lisbon for a then club record £38m last summer. Having established himself as a Premier League player and with the market for midfielders in the English top flight having seen some astronomical transfer fees over the past couple of months, it’s clear that Nunes is worth at the very least that amount now.
Wolves will most likely want considerably more if they are to consider letting their prized asset depart this late in the window. They’ve already lost Ruben Neves this summer with the 26 year old making a £47m transfer to Al-Hilal and while 21 year old midfielder Boubacar Traore has arrived, they would certainly need to dive back into the market for fresh options in the centre of the park should Nunes go.
When Manchester City come calling, it can be tough for other Premier League clubs to hang onto their players though. There is clearly money available to fund this transfer given City were on the brink of signing Lucas Paqueta from West Ham for £80m before details of a betting investigation scuppered the move.
Possible Man City transfer fee
#Wolves have rejected a £47m bid from Manchester City for Matheus Nunes. Opening offer for the Portugal international worth €55m in total but nowhere near Wolves valuation. Wolves don’t want to sell but probably not the end of this one.. #mcfc #wwfc https://t.co/b8T6FKTSrA
— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) August 24, 2023
Manchester City are widely reported to have already made a £47m bid for Matheus Nunes. That would have matched the fee Wolves received for Ruben Neves but the club have rejected the proposal and are believed to have a considerably higher valuation.
The player still has four years to run on his present deal at Molineux so Manchester City may need to move closer towards the figure that they were going to pay West Ham for Paqueta if they want to get this over the line.
The player is believed to have already accepted the move so personal terms are unlikely to be any kind of stumbling block. That means it’s down to the clubs to come to some agreement on price which will be a test of just how badly City feel they need the player and whether or not Wolves are willing to sell a key member of their team so late in what has already been a bad summer.
