Wolves sporting director Kevin Thelwell has confirmed that the club will look to sign Diogo Jota from Atletico Madrid on a permanent deal in the January transfer window, according to the Express & Star.
Jota joined Wolves on loan in the summer and is the club’s top goalscorer in this campaign, finding the net six times in 11 league appearances. The fee will reportedly be eight figures but the Express & Star understand that it will not surpass the club record £15m paid for highly-rated Porto midfielder Ruben Neves in the summer.
Speaking about the possibility of signing Jota, Thelwell said: “There is a possibility we could buy him in January but we would need Atletico Madrid’s permission.
“We have an option to buy him in the summer. There is a need to strengthen the central striker position in January.”
Jota is one of five players on loan at Molineux this term, along with Leo Bonatini, Wily Boly, Ruben Vinagre and Alfred N’Diaye from Al Hilal, Porto, Monaco and Villarreal.
Thelwell spoke of the culture being built at Wolves, with the Wanderers managing to convince some of Europe’s brightest prospects to take a short-term dip in quality of football in exchange for their long-term vision of Premier League sustainability.
“There’s not a culture here to develop players for other clubs. We do it for ourselves so they come with us.”
