'Responsible decision' - Wolves chief explains £38m Joao Gomes sale to Aston Villa

Technical director Matt Jackson says selling Joao Gomes was the “responsible decision” for Wolves after the midfielder completed a £38million move to Villa.

The 25-year-old Brazilian has moved across the West Midlands after three-and-half years at Molineux, with Jackson backing him to have an “outstanding” career.

Gomes, who joined Wolves from Flamengo for £15m in 2023, was widely expected to leave Wolves following their relegation from the Premier League, albeit Villa did not appear his most likely destination at the start of the summer.

But that changed when Unai Emery was forced to look for midfield reinforcements after Youri Tielemans moved to Manchester United and Amadou Onana suffered a serious knee injury.

Villa moved swiftly to complete a move for Gomes, with Jackson claiming the sale was in Wolves’ best overall interests as they continue their own rebuilding job under new boss Cesar Peixoto.

Jackson 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.”

Jackson, meanwhile, remains confident Wolves will have a strong finish to the transfer window.

The club moved quickly to complete the signings of Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez in the early part of the summer but winger Rafiki Said remains the only arrival since Peixoto replaced Rob Edwards in the dugout.

Jackson said: “We've had two weeks of training and Cesar and his coaches are getting to know the players more and more, and the bond they’re building is a real positive.

“Of course, there's going to be changes before the end of the transfer window, absolutely, but we really like the shape that we're in at the moment.”