Wolves now eyeing late swoop for "special" £23.4m-rated beast, Lage would love him - opinion

With only a few days left until the January transfer window closes, it appears that Wolves could be set to make a late swoop to bring a player in that is apparently wanted by a number of big clubs across Europe.

According to a recent report from Record (via Sport Witness) Wolves are one of the clubs alongside Atletico Madrid as well as fellow Premier League sides Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur that are interested in signing Sporting midfielder Joao Palhinha.

The 26-year-old, who has been described as a “special player” by Ruben Amorim in the past, has made a total of 81 senior appearances for Sporting across all competitions, chipping in with seven goals along the way.

Having spent his entire career in Portugal, a move to the Premier League to play at a club such as Wolves that already has a significant Portuguese presence in their playing squad and coaching team could be very appealing for Palhinha if he would be open to starting a new chapter in his playing career.

In terms of a potential move to Wolves, with current midfielder Joao Moutinho set to see his contract at Molineux expire at the end of the season, Palhinha, who is currently valued at £23.4m according to Transfermarkt, could be Lage’s perfect replacement for the veteran Wolves maestro if he ends up leaving in the summer.

With that in mind, the fact that both Moutinho and the Sporting midfielder have managed to rack up an identical pass success percentage of 86.7% in their respective leagues so far this season shows the similarity between the pair.

Moving forward, if Wolves could secure Palhinha’s signature this month and integrate him among the other midfielders in the Old Gold side such as Moutinho as well as Leander Dendoncker and Ruben Neves, who