{"id":663248,"date":"2026-01-13T08:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=663248"},"modified":"2026-01-13T08:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:37:30","slug":"napoli-man-utd-joao-gomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2026\/01\/13\/napoli-man-utd-joao-gomes\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United Face Competition for &#8216;Pitbull&#8217; Midfielder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wolverhampton Wanderers&#8217; struggles in the Premier League have not gone unnoticed, but neither have the performances of some of their standout players. Despite sitting at the foot of the table, Wolves continue to boast talent that attracts elite European interest. The latest name to emerge on the radar of major clubs is Brazilian international Jo\u00e3o Gomes, affectionately known to Wolves fans as &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wolves.co.uk\/news\/mens-first-team\/20240724-joao-gomes-the-pitbull-childhood-wolverhampton-oneil\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Pitbull<\/a>&#8220;, with reports suggesting growing attention from Serie A and the Premier League.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"68\" data-end=\"203\">Interest From Italy And England Highlights The Growing Reputation Of \u00a0Key Midfielder Jo\u00e3o Gomes<\/h2>\n<h3 data-start=\"68\" data-end=\"203\"><span>Napoli and United Tracking Gomes<\/span><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"716\" data-end=\"1115\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/football\/live-blog\/11699\/13279323\/wolverhampton-wanderers-transfers-latest-news-rumours-and-gossip-live-updates-goals-and-highlights\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sky Sports News<\/a>, reigning Serie A champions Napoli are monitoring Gomes as they assess options ahead of the summer transfer window. The Italian side has been hit by injury problems in midfield this season, prompting them to explore potential reinforcements for the next campaign. Gomes\u2019 energy, ball-winning ability, and tactical discipline have reportedly made him an appealing option.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"716\" data-end=\"1115\"><strong>Read More:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2026\/01\/12\/strand-larsen-wolves-transfer-speculation\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">\u2018If It\u2019s Right for the Football Club\u2019: Rob Edwards Concedes Potential for J\u00f8rgen Strand Larsen Transfer<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1117\" data-end=\"1437\">Interest is not limited to Italy. Sky also reports that Manchester United has placed the 24-year-old on a shortlist of midfield targets for the next window. United\u2019s long-term midfield planning could see them move for younger profiles capable of developing into key figures, and Gomes fits that model.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1117\" data-end=\"1437\"><span>Wolves Hold the Upper Hand<\/span><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1478\" data-end=\"1767\">From the Wanderers\u2019 perspective, there is no immediate pressure to sell. Gomes is under contract until the summer of 2030, with the club also holding an option to extend by a further year. That long-term deal places them in a strong negotiating position, even as their on-pitch fortunes falter.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1478\" data-end=\"1767\"><strong>Read More<\/strong><span>: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2026\/01\/04\/mateus-mane-gives-wolves-hope-new-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Wolves Tie Down Youngster Alan Shearer Praised As \u2018Absolutely Outstanding\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1769\" data-end=\"2032\">Currently at the bottom of the Premier League with just seven points from 21 games, Wolves face an uphill battle for survival. However, Gomes has remained a consistent presence, often tasked with providing balance and intensity in midfield during a challenging campaign.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1769\" data-end=\"2032\">The Red Devils are once again in freefall and aren&#8217;t shy about overpaying to address key issues. Their need for a midfielder could see a bid arrive that is too good to turn down.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1769\" data-end=\"2032\"><strong>Featured Image Credit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1769\" data-end=\"2032\">IMAGO \/ Every Second Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wolverhampton Wanderers&#8217; struggles in the Premier League have not gone unnoticed, but neither have the performances of some of their standout players. Despite sitting at the foot of the table, Wolves continue to boast talent that attracts elite European interest. The latest name to emerge on the radar of major clubs is Brazilian international Jo\u00e3o [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5441,"featured_media":651055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,18,5,2510],"tags":[7380,895],"class_list":["post-663248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-manchester-united","category-serie-a","category-wolves","tag-manchester-united-transfer-rumours","tag-napoli"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663248"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663258,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663248\/revisions\/663258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}