Life ‘after Jude’ continues at Anfield, with almost every half-decent midfielder under the age of 27 being linked with a summer move to Merseyside. One man who was heavily linked with a move last year is Wolves’ Matheus Nunes. A few months ago, it looked as if the Portuguese international was a strong candidate to be lining up alongside Bellingham in a replenished midfield in 2023/24.
Other targets have since been mentioned, but rumours still circulate that ‘super-agent’ Jorge Mendes is touting his client for a possible move away from Molyneux at the end of the season.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones for the latest on the Nunes links.
Neil said: “It would depend on the cost. Wolves are going to stay up, aren’t they? There was a spell where that was far from certain. There was the potential that they were going to be relegated. I think that obviously would have impacted what they could look to demand for any player, whether it was Nunes, or Neves, or Pedro Neto, or whoever.
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“I don’t think anything’s changed in terms of Liverpool’s appreciation of the player. He’s not had a great season, has he? He’s had some moments and probably done OK recently, as have Wolves. I haven’t heard of him being, ‘Project Nunes – that’s the one that they’re really, really working on’, but it wouldn’t at all surprise me.
“You look at Mount, Mac Allister, probably Gravenberch – they feel a little bit more ‘live’ at this moment in time.
“There is a possibility that if you’re not getting Jude Bellingham, then that affects the other targets you look at. Maybe the plan was Bellingham and Nunes and that was going to change everything.”
Redmen Reacts
Very much ‘flavour of the month’ last summer, interest in Nunes – who was described as ‘unbelievable’ by former teammate Goncalo Santos – seems to have waned from both the club and the fanbase over the course of the season. The Portuguese midfielder struggled early on in a poor Wolves side but has started to show glimpses of his potential in recent weeks following the appointment of Julen Lopategui. If the Reds do go in for Nunes this year, they will be hoping for a similar story to that of Dietmar Hamann, who became a mainstay in cup-winning Liverpool sides after one season acclimatising to English football at Newcastle United. At the moment, the 24-year-old seems to be below the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Mason Mount on the priority list. In the twilight of Julian Ward’s tenure as sporting director, could his insight into Portuguese football convince the manager to take the plunge on one of the many talented players to have emerged from there in recent years? Or is one Núñez more than enough for the club to handle?!
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