Wolves on the cusp of signing Willian Jose from Real Sociedad

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Wolves are close to signing Real Sociedad striker Willian Jose on loan with the option to buy in the summer, according to Sky Sports.

Nuno Espirito Santo has been searching for a new centre-forward in the January transfer window to replace and then provide competition for Raul Jimenez.

The Mexican striker is still recovering after suffering a horrible fractured skull injury earlier in the season.

Wolves have previously been linked with a number of strikers to come in to provide numbers up top, including Diego Costa, but then opted to recall Patrick Cutrone from his loan spell at Fiorentina.

Nuno then said the club would not be conducting any business in the winter window.

However, they have been presented with the opportunity to sign Willian Jose, with the 29-year-old currently awaiting a work permit to travel to the UK to complete the deal.

The Brazilian was offered to Tottenham in the summer, but Jose Mourinho opted to sign Carlos Vinicius from Benfica instead. In this transfer window, he was also linked with Atletico Madrid, but they signed Moussa Dembele from Lyon.

Willian Jose joined Real Sociedad in July of 2016 and has gone on to become a mainstay in their attack.

His best season came in 2017/18 when he scored 20 goals in 27 starts in all competitions including 15 in La Liga.

Last campaign he scored 11 goals in 25 starts.

In the 2020/21 season he has been in and out of the team, starting just eight times and scoring three goals.

Wolves, meanwhile, are not enjoying a particularly positive campaign and are down in 14th in the Premier League table, having won just six of their opening 19 games.

They are hoping that, if Willian Jose is given permission to speak to the club under the new Brexit regulations, he will travel from Spain next week to complete the loan deal.

The potential fee to make the loan permanent hasn’t been revealed by either club as of yet.