Aston Villa complete £38m Joao Gomes signing from Wolves

The 25-year-old has moved across the West Midlands after making 130 appearances in three seasons at Molineux.

Gomes, who has signed a five-year contract at Villa, becomes their second signing of the summer, following a club-record £52m deal for Switzerland international Johan Manzambi.

The Brazilian’s exit from Wolves had been widely expected this summer following the club’s relegation from the Premier League.

Villa swooped in after a switch to long-time suitors Atletico Madrid failed to materialise.

Boss Unai Emery had not originally been targeting a midfielder this summer but was forced to act after Youri Tielemans joined Manchester United for £35m and Amadou Onana suffered a serious knee injury.

Wolves technical director Matt Jackson paid tribute to the departing player.

He said: “Joao deserves everything he gets from the game. He’s a model professional, a lovely young man and a great family man.

He’s the type of professional that coaches love and players love, so he will go on to be the outstanding player that we know he is.

“We’re obviously sorry to see him go, but we have to take responsible decisions for the football club, and then we build to be stronger collectively.

“It's a very natural part of football, the best run football clubs who don’t have unlimited resources have to work this way. The model is something that we have to adopt, and our fans have always been hugely understanding of that.”

Villa are poised to make a big sale of their own, with Morgan Rogers on course to join Chelsea in a British record £117m deal.

The midfielder arrived in London on Monday to undergo a medical, ahead of completing the move.