Wolves are set to sign Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.
The Premier League's bottom side are gambling on the Atletico Madrid forward firing them to safety under new manager Julen Lopetegui after a disastrous opening to the season under predecessor Bruno Lage. They have won just two of 15 matches, scoring only eight times so far.
Cunha, 23, was undergoing his medical on Wednesday and is set to join on loan until the end of the season, with an obligation to turn the deal permanent in the summer. That obligation will be £40million - even if Wanderers are relegated.
It is a remarkable risk for a player who is undoubtedly talented and has eight senior Brazil caps to his name, but who missed out on a place in their World Cup squad after a nightmare start to the season under Diego Simeone.
He has failed to score in 17 games so far this term and bagged only seven in 37 last season after a £26million switch from Hertha BSC. However, a number of Premier League clubs were keen on his signature, but Cunha has decided to make Molineux his new home, with Lopetegui understood to have played an integral role in persuading him to move to the West Midlands.
Wolves will become his fifth club in seven years, having also played for Swiss side Sion, RB Leipzig since 2017.
Meanwhile, club talisman Ruben Neves insists they will be treating every game like a final in their bid to escape trouble, ahead of their Boxing Day trip to Everton.
Wolves advanced into the next round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win over League Two Gillingham. Substitute Raul Jimenez struck late on from the penalty spot before another sub, Rayan Ait-Nouri, doubled the lead.
Speaking afterwards, Neves said: "Of course, we were struggling before the World Cup, but that’s finished now. The break was really good for us, we were able to work a big amount without any official matches, so it was good for us.
“I bet it was good for the other teams as well, but of course we worked really hard to get out of where we are. We want to think game by game. We played the last game as a final and that’s what we want to do from now on.”
Neves was one of five Wolves players at the World Cup, but insists they are ready to hit the ground running when the Premier League resumes.
“We are used to it. I think we are strong enough mentally to switch our mind and to change to the club again.
"We do that all the time during the season with international breaks.
"There are no excuses for us because we know what we need to do when we’re with the national team and then, of course, we know what we need to do when we’re with the club. It’s a normal thing.”
