Daniel Podence closing in on move to Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves are set to increase their extensive Portuguese contingent even further, with Olympiakos’ Daniel Podence expected to soon complete a move to the Premier League for a fee in the region of 28 million euros.

The transfer has progressed rapidly, and while an agreement is yet to be reached over the signing of the former Portugal U21 international, it is understood that discussions are very advanced and a conclusion should be reached in a matter of days, with Wolves looking to move quickly in the market having yet to confirm the signing of a single senior player this month.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has made no secret of the fact that he is very keen to reinforce his talented but ultimately stretched first-team squad, who are still fighting on two fronts - the English Premier League and the UEFA Europa League.

His long-term friend and associate Jorge Mendes has been central in the negotiations between the clubs, the Portuguese superagent a close connection to both the Greek outfit and the English side, and both parties are hoping for a deal to be wrapped up for the 24-year old former Sporting prospect.

The fee would be a record amount received for a player by any Greek club in history, the current record departure from the Greek Super League being Nery Castillo, who joined Shakhtar Donetsk from Olympiakos for 20 million euros back in 2007.

Podence is not the only Portuguese player Wolves could leave Greece with, with the West Midlands club also working on a deal to bring in Nelson Oliveira from AEK Athens too.

This likely won't be there last of the business Wolves conduct in Greece over the coming couple of years, with Wolves having previously also shown interest in goalkeeper José Sá and centreback Ruben Semedo, the latter seen as an ideal alternative to Ruben Dias.

In preparation for Podence’s anticipated arrival to English shores, here we take a closer look at the talented winger, looking to answer some of the questions fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers may currently have regarding their latest Portuguese recruit:

Who is Daniel Podence?

Having come through the Sporting academy, there were always high hopes for the diminutive winger, who made his debut for the Portuguese outfit aged 19 in a Portuguese Cup victory over Vitoria SC. He struggled to tie down regular game time early on in his senior career though, and was sent out on loan to Moreirense in August 2016 in search of more minutes.

Game time he got, impressing for the Primeira Liga strugglers, helping to guide them away from the foot of the table during his time with the club with his dribbling prowess and technical ability.

He impressed to such an extent with the modest Portuguese club that then Sporting manager Jorge Jesus decided to recall him from his loan at the end of January 2017, testament to the impression he left on Moreirense in a very short space of time.

That is shown no better than by the fact that he played a significant role in helping Moreirense achieve the truly formidable task of lifting a major trophy for the first time in the club’s entire 80-year history. Playing in each match against Porto, Benfica and Braga en route to lifting the Portuguese League Cup in January 2017, Moreirense could not have had a harder run in their bid to break their trophy drought - and yet with dazzling trickery from the likes of Podence, they managed to achieve it.

He went on to play a fair amount of football for the rest of the season with Sporting, and would have played a key role for the club the following season had it not been hampered with injury.

Why did he leave Sporting?

Wolves fans will remember the rather unfortunate circumstances surrounding the club’s impressive signing of Rui Patricio two summers ago, with the Sporting legend opting to unilaterally terminate his contract with the Lisbon club after a group of hooligans posing as fans attacked the players and staff at their Alocochete training complex in the build-up to their Portuguese Cup final with Aves.

Patricio was one of several high-profile players who opted to take matters into their own hands by terminating their own contracts with the club, citing just cause as a result of feeling unsafe in their place of work. The likes of William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes and Rafael Leao followed suit - as did Daniel Podence.

It was an unceremonious end for the player, with many fans quick to criticise his decision to abandon the club when they had given him a chance to advance his career.

Nevertheless, Podence decided to join Olympiakos, who eventually reached a compensation settlement with Sporting for approximately 7 million euros, and has only continued to show his explosiveness and confidence on the ball since moving to the Greek Super League, his technical and dribbling ability there to back it up, making him an entertaining and dangerous player to have down the flank.

Is he worth the fee?

In today’s market, there’s little doubt that Podence is worth every penny. He is still a relatively young footballer, just 24 years of age, has already garnered a good level of experience both in Portugal and Greece, impressing in both nations.

For a player with his raw ability and pace, you’ll be hard pushed to find someone with such quality for around £20million in the year 2020. Consider the fact that Pepe, for example, who is also 24 years of age, cost Arsenal no less than £72million, and this deal looks even more impressive.

Podence is on the brink of becoming a full Portugal international, and had been impressing on the biggest stage European football has to offer when facing Spurs in the UEFA Champions League, so to get this deal done for anything less than £25million has to be deemed good business.

Who does he compare to?

Wolves fans will probably be pleased to hear that he does have clear similarities to the two main Portuguese attackers already at the club in Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto. Like both Jota and Neto, Podence is a traditional winger, being a skillful and excellent dribbler of the ball, possessing the confidence to take the game to the opposition and try and create goalscoring opportunities, but one trait he possesses that those two perhaps lack is a great deal of pace.

Indeed, for what Podence lacks in size he certainly makes up for in energy and speed, which makes him even more of a threat when running at opposition defenders. In that regard, you could certainly find comparisons between him and the highly-acclaimed Benfica winger, Rafa Silva.

Is he better than Ivan Cavaleiro and Helder Costa?

In a word, yes. Both Cavaleiro and Helder Costa were never really good enough to play for Benfica, whilst Podence was on the cusp of becoming one of the first names on the team sheet had he remained at his own Lisbon club for a little longer.

Cavaleiro and Costa were two highly accomplished footballers, but Podence offers more top-level experience, more directness and more trickery to make him a much more well-rounded wide playing footballer. He also offers great versatility, able to play on either flank or as a second striker.

One thing that Podence lacks that Cavaleiro doesn’t, though, is a clinical nature in and around the opposition box. Podence isn’t the best of finishers, and though that’s a trait that can certainly improve with time, it could be the source of some frustratino for Wolves fans early on. Nevertheless, he should make up for that with his otherwise highly entertaining - and effective - style.

Will he be a success?

Wolves fans don't need me to tell them that their club knows what it's doing when it comes to the transfer market - and I think they have metaphorically hit it out of the park on this one.

He's a great talent already, and under the stewardship of Nuno, you can expect him to get even better. Is he likely to be a starter straight away? Probably not; after all, there is a great deal of competition down the flanks. But over time, when given the opportunities, he'll become something of a fan favourite for his work rate and energy.

This deal will take Wolves’ Portuguese contingent to 8 - Nelson Oliveira to 9. They will have more Portuguese first-team players than Benfica, Porto and Sporting - perhaps combined. You can see why Wolves fever is alive and well in Portugal.