Joao Gomes Set to Join Aston Villa for £38m

Joao Gomes is set to swap a relegation fight for the Champions League chase.

The Wolves midfielder is poised to join Aston Villa in a deal worth £38m, a move that underlines just how aggressively Unai Emery is rebuilding the heart of his team. Gomes has already left Wolves’ pre-season camp in Portugal and is due to undergo a medical on Thursday, with only the final formalities standing between him and Villa Park.

Villa will pay an initial £34m, with a further £4m tied up in add-ons.

For a player who only arrived in England in 2023, it is a rapid rise in value and reputation.

This is not a luxury signing. It is a response to a midfield torn open in a matter of weeks. Youri Tielemans has gone to Manchester United in a £35m deal, removing one of Villa’s most experienced technicians. Amadou Onana, signed to add power and presence, is out until next year after the serious knee injury he suffered while playing for Belgium at the World Cup. The engine room suddenly looked thin. Villa have moved quickly.

Gomes brings edge. He made 41 appearances for Wolves last season, one of the few consistent performers in a side that slid to the bottom of the Premier League. Across his 130 games for the club, the Brazil international scored seven goals, but his value has never been measured purely in numbers. He presses, snaps into tackles, and drags the game into areas opponents do not enjoy.

Atletico Madrid liked what they saw and pushed to sign him, but never closed a deal. Villa did. That, in itself, says something about where the Birmingham club now sit in the European pecking order.

And they are not stopping at Gomes. Villa are also close to completing a club-record move for Switzerland international Johan Manzambi from Freiburg, a fee expected to top £50m. Drop Gomes into that mix and Emery suddenly has a very different set of options: bite, balance, and the depth required for a season stretched across multiple fronts.

For Wolves, it is another painful departure after a grim campaign, losing a player who at least brought intensity to a struggling side. For Villa, it is another statement that last season’s surge was not a one-off.

Gomes is leaving a team that finished bottom of the Premier League to join one aiming for the top end of it. The question now is simple: can he turn that ambition into control in the middle of the pitch when it matters most?