Bruno Lage has confirmed Toti Gomes will spend the rest of the season with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves recalled Toti from his loan spell at Grasshoppers at the beginning of January with the intention of sending him back to Switzerland at the end of the month. But Toti was handed a surprise debut against Southampton last time out and helped Wolves to a 3-1 win at Molineux. The centre-back could deputise for Romain Saiss again at Brentford on Saturday as Wolves go in search of a fourth straight win.
Bruno Lage said: “Toti will stay with us. I really don’t know at the moment if he will play more games for us, I need to be honest with you. But after what the kid did against Southampton, I think he deserves to be with us until the end of the season. In the same way as Chiquinho, he can try to understand the city, the environment and the Premier League.”
Toti celebrated his 23rd birthday the day after making his debut and the Wolves newcomer marked another special moment on Thursday.
Bruno Lage continued: “I think it was the best week of his life. First he played for Wolves in the Premier League, after it was his birthday, and yesterday his daughter was born. What a week for him!”
At the beginning of January Lage admitted Wolves’ ‘priority’ was to sign a new centre-back. Wolves have managed to cope while Saiss has competed in the Africa Cup of Nations for Morocco, and Lage will welcome the defender back in early February. Asked about Wolves’ quest to strengthen their defence,
Bruno Lage said: “We have that idea, but the market is very hard in January to bring the right player. We prepared Marcal and Leander (Dendoncker) to play there, and brought Dion (Sanderson) and Toti (back). For now, with 10 days to go, and hopefully Saiss will be back in a couple of weeks, I think we’re going to stay like that. But you never know. What I want now is if we have a chance to bring any player who can fit our team, not just for four months, but for the future, with a good deal, it’s good for us. I will not tell Jeff (Shi, chairman) or Scott (Sellars, technical director) to bring me a player for four months. The players who come should be important to help the team to go to the next level, not just help the team for four months.”
