Tote Gomes has departed Estoril to join Wolves
As confirmed via a press release from Portuguese club Estoril Praia (h/t Birmingham Live), Wolves have completed the signing of versatile defender Tote Gomes for an undisclosed fee.
The report adds that the Portuguese second-tier outfit have reached an agreement with Wolves to assign the sporting rights of the 21-year-old, who has been a part of Estoril since 2017.
According to claims from Portuguese outlet Record (h/t Birmingham Live), Gomes is expected to spend the upcoming campaign on loan at Swiss club Grasshoppers, who are also owned by Fosun International.
Tote Gomes started his youth career at Fontainhas and Dramatico Cascais in the Portuguese lower divisions before joining Estoril’s academy ranks back in 2017. Having impressed for the club’s U-23 side, the youngster made 3 first-team appearances for Estoril in the Liga Pro, the Portuguese second-tier, during the 2018-19 campaign.
The 21-year-old spent the previous campaign with Estoril’s reserve side, failing to make a single senior appearance before earning a move to Wolves this summer. Essentially a left-back by trade, the former Portuguese U-20 international is also capable of playing as a central defender.
Wolves’ move to sign Tote Gomes represents a second raid on Estoril Praia following the capture of highly-rated Azerbaijani striker Renat Dadashov last year.
Besides Dadashov, Wolves have also invested in other young talents like Meritan Shabani, Bruno Jordao, and Leonardo Campana among others in recent transfer windows. Some of them have progressed through the U-23 ranks while others have spent time on loan.
Pedro Neto, who came through the door at Molineux as a teenager last summer, went on to make 44 appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in all competitions. That is a clear indication of the fact that Wolves are already beginning to reap rich rewards from their youthful recruitment policy.
In the same way, Tote Gomes as a good long-term investment for the Wolves, even though he isn’t likely to make immediate impact at the Premier League level.
The 21-year-old has very little professional experience under his belt and a loan spell in one of the lower leagues in Europe would be the ideal stepping stone for him to make the step up to the highly-competitive atmosphere of the PL moving forward.
Tote Gomes might not be ready for PL action just yet, but Wolves’ decision to sign the Portuguese youth international can pay off handsomely for their long-term plans in the years to come.