SOURCES: WOLVES DECIDE JOAO GOMES' MAN UTD SALE STATUS
Manchester United's pursuit of Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes is complicated as his contract lacks a release clause for a January move.
Joao Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers is still on Manchester United's list, but they can't just buy him out of his contract.
Man United wants the Wolves midfielder as part of Ruben Amorim's changes to the club, and some reports say a deal in January is getting close.
But the 24-year-old Brazilian won't get an easy way out of Molineux.
Joao Gomes Doesn't Have an Exit Clause in His Wolves Contract
He signed a new contract with Wolves seven months ago, and no exit clause would let him leave.
Last summer, Amorim and his team were ready to pay £62.5m for Cunha.
The deal went smoothly because the player was a Manchester United fan and wanted to play for them.
Cunha signed a new deal that promised a set fee for the season before he left.
But Gomes doesn't have that kind of agreement, so he's probably thinking about what to do.
Wolves haven't won a game this season and are at the bottom of the Premier League.
Manchester United is thinking about Joao Gomes of Wolves as they look for a new midfielder.
The club is likely to be relegated, and with four tough road games next month, things probably won't get better soon, even with new manager Rob Edwards.
They played better on Saturday, but the results didn't change much.
The 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace means they haven't won in 12 games, and the upcoming away games at Villa Park, Old Trafford, the Emirates, and Stamford Bridge don't look good for their chances of getting points.
So, Wolves and possibly United have a decision to make.
If Wolves are stuck at the bottom of the table, which seems likely (they're already nine points behind West Ham United in 17th place with a much worse goal difference), the club will have to decide what to do with their best players.
Wolves Owner Jeff Shi Faces Joao Gomes' Problem
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi will need to make up for any money lost if the team is relegated, and selling Gomes would help a lot.
But the big question is whether Shi and Wolves' owners, Fosun International, will give up or try to save face and fix the mistake of relegation by asking Gomes to stay.
If Gomes stays, he'll have a guaranteed spot on the team, even if they're struggling.
That would give him more security with a World Cup in the Americas next year.
The same goes for Gomes's midfield partner, Andre, who will also want to impress if he wants to move.
Gomes has to decide if staying at Molineux for the rest of the season, where he's sure to play, is worth the risk.
If he plays well in front of a global audience, his value will go up, possibly showing his talent to other interested teams.
Or, Wolves could try to sell him in January, which would leave the door open for him to move to Old Trafford.
EX-CAPTAIN NEVILLE CLAIMS SUBSTITUTIONS MADE MANCHESTER UNITED "WORSE" AGAINST WOLVES
Gary Neville slams Ruben Amorim’s "weird" substitutions and tactical shifts after Manchester United's 1-1 draw with bottom-side Wolves.
Gary Neville said that the performance of Manchester United in their match against winless Wolves was ‘the baddest of the bad.’
United would have moved fourth in the league with a win at Old Trafford last night, although Wolves, who had two points in 18 games before kickoff, ended their record of 11 straight losses with a 1-1 draw.
Amorim’s team had been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by a League Two team, Grimsby, in August, but Neville was convinced that United had hit rock bottom in a game that could have been even more one-sided were it not for two important saves by Senne Lammens.
“That was the baddest of the bad," the former United captain declared on the Gary Neville podcast.
“They weren’t just booed off at the final whistle. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them. They’ve gone backwards.”
United had won at Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day, despite being plagued by an injury list that already lacked skipper Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt, as well as three players on African Cup of Nations duty.
But they remained flat right from the first whistle, and the header by Ladislav Krejci just before the half bottled Joshua Zirkzee's deflected shot.
Amorim’s formation choice of 3-4-3 was brought into focus once more as the Portuguese opted to go back to his preferred tactic of four at the back against Newcastle.
“This isn’t right. I’ve watched enough of United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn’t right,” Neville had declared 20 minutes into his commentary on Sky Sports.
“Because, when I see that we go back (to three at the back) after five minutes tonight, I’m thinking, no, Ruben, why have you done that?
"The manager has to look at that and think, I got that wrong. I complicated it."
However, Amorim decided to substitute Zirkzee at halftime and brought on an 18-year-old Jack Fletcher, who made his third appearance at the senior level.
Regarding substitutions made by Amorim, Neville further added, “They made Manchester United worse. Every single substitution was ridiculous.”
‘If Zirkzee was injured, and it was a tactical substitution, that was a very poor one.’ But Zirkzee isn't Eric Cantona, not by a long shot, and he had to get out there for physicality, for presence, for experience.”
SEE LISANDRO MARTINEZ’S FURIOUS REACTION AFTER MAN UTD’S SHOCK WOLVES DRAW
Lisandro Martinez demands more after Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves. United ended 2025 sixth in the Premier League.
Stand-in captain Lisandro Martinez was mad that Manchester United dropped points against Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league.
United came into the last game of 2025 after a good win against Newcastle on Boxing Day and were expected to easily beat Wolves.
Joshua Zirkzee scored first for United, but they didn't take their chances. Ladislav Krejci's header tied the game for Wolves, 1-1.
It was only their third point in 19 games, and it stopped their 11-game losing streak. United fans booed at the end of the game.
When Martinez was asked if it felt like a disappointing point, he said, 100 percent.
We are very disappointed. We can't keep drawing or losing points at home. We have to win.
We want to be at the top, competing with the best.
We can't drop points in games like this. We just have to accept it and be hungry for the next game.
Martinez was captain again because Bruno Fernandes is still recovering from an injury.
When United coach Ruben Amorim was asked about injured players for the game against Leeds on Sunday, he didn't give much away. Leeds are really wanting to beat United for the first time since 2010.
Martinez said to MUTV, You can either make excuses, or you can be strong and say, 'We're dropping points, so we need to go for the next one and show what we can do.'
We need to work together and do the easy things to get the three points.
United is in sixth place in the league at the end of 2025, only two points behind Liverpool for the last Champions League spot. Liverpool has a game in hand.
They could be in a better position if they had been better in both boxes. Leeds has been playing well lately, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin doing great up front.
Martinez added, It's about us. I don't like to think about other teams.
I'm thinking about what we can do to get better as a team every day, and we have to learn from this game.