Cunha deal made permanent as Weghorst’s move to Man Utd has unexpected impact on Wolves

Jason Soutar
Wolves forward Matheus Cunha celebrates scoring a penalty

Besiktas are interested in signing Wolves striker Raul Jimenez with Wout Weghorst set to join Manchester United, according to reports.

Weghorst’s loan with the Turkish club is set to be terminated with Erik ten Hag poised to bring his compatriot to Old Trafford.

United needed to recruit a new striker following Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit in November.

Fabrizio Romano stated that Besiktas would not let Weghorst leave before finding a replacement, with Ronaldo’s new Al-Nassr teammate Vincent Aboubakar their top target.

The Italian journalist has since said ‘here we go’ for the Netherlands international to join the Red Devils, hinting that the Turkish side have a new striker lined up.

United will pay Besiktas €3m before signing the player on loan from Besiktas.

According to Fotospor, Besiktas are now lining up an approach for Raul Jimenez.

The report doesn’t really say anything other than that the Turkish side have ‘examined’ Jimenez – who is a ‘surprise striker’ lined up to replace Weghorst.

Jimenez and Mathues Cunha linked up to score a fine goal in Wolves’ Carabao Cup match against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

Wolves signed Cunha on loan from Atletico Madrid earlier this month and have already activated the option to make the deal permanent.

The Molineux side will pay the La Liga giants over £44million with the player penning a four-and-a-half-year contract.

Brazilian journalist Vene Casagrande says the deal became permanent after Cunha reached the requirements agreed between the two clubs – for him to play three games.

Cunha was Julen Lopetegui’s first signing since becoming Wolves head coach.

Speaking after Wolves’ penalty shootout loss to Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Lopetegui said: “My reaction is of course negative because we wanted to continue in this competition and I think we fought a lot to get it. It was a very hard match for both teams.

“We started to suffer one goal from the corner, I don’t remember another chance for them, and then after we had two very big chances in the first-half that we don’t score. In the second-half, we have tried to score, we got one goal, but we had more chances.

“We changed things because they crossed a lot, but we scored a very good goal. After that, we had two or three very good situations. But in the end, it was a pity for the penalties, because this is the way we have lost this match.”

The Spanish head coach continued: “I want to highlight the fight of the players again, because we have played three matches away from Wolverhampton and we haven’t lost, but we haven’t won. We need to win, above all today because it was a key match to continue ahead and we have a big vision to ahead.

“We have fought a lot and it’s a pity for our fans because they are here and offering a big support for us, so it was a pity for all of us, but above all, for them.

“To continue, we have to improve some things. It’s going to be a very hard and long race, and after today we have another very important match in front of us, and we have to put the focus tomorrow on the next match.”

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