Julen Lopetegui has hinted Joao Gomes will need time to get up to speed after joining Wolverhampton Wanderers. Brazilian midfielder Gomes, 21, completed a protracted transfer to Wolves from Flamengo last week to bolster Lopetegui’s options in the engine room. He has trained with his new teammates this week and is in contention for a place in the squad against Liverpool. However, Gomes hasn’t played since the end of last year when the Brazilian championship concluded. He didn’t take part in any of Flamengo’s fixtures in January whilst he was in transfer limbo.
Julien Lopetegui said:“I think Joao is a good choice for the club, for the present and the future. He is a young player. He has just arrived and has to adapt to English football and find his rhythm. In Brazil they are more or less in pre-season so it’s a different moment for the players. We have to put him in the same way as the rest of the players.”
Asked whether Gomes will be involved against Liverpool,
Julien Lopetegui replied: “We will see. We aren’t going to reveal the squad list or our idea.”
Wolves will be without long-term injury absentees Pedro Neto, Boubacar Traore, Chiquinho and Sasa Kalajdzic, but Lopetegui expects everyone else to be available.
Julien Lopetegui said: “Not anything to highlight. We have had a good week of work and now we are focusing on being able to compete and overcome a fantastic team. We know them, they know us. We have played them a few times, it will be different in the league maybe.”
