Welcome to the summer transfer window, Aston Villa! Their first real, major signing of the window is being finalized, and it comes in the form of Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Joao Gomes.
He was scheduled to undergo his Villa medical yesterday, with agreement having been reached on a £38m deal.
Aston Villa have agreed a £38m deal with Wolves to sign midfielder Joao Gomes 🟣 pic.twitter.com/JlLxMFd3P4
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 16, 2026
According to the BBC, the specifics of this £38m deal consisting of an initial £34m upfront payment, with a further £4m possible in structured incentive-based add-ons.
The 25-year-old Brazilian is working towards finalizing the deal on Friday.
Joao Gomes fills a big need for Villa, as Youri Tielemans left for Manchester United and Amadou Onana suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear while featuring for Belgium in the World Cup round of 16. He is expected to miss most of the season.
Villa have not signed any new players this summer transfer window, unless you count Modou Keba Cisse, who joined a year ago on a deal worth €5million (£4.2m) and was immediately loaned back to LASK.
Technically, he would be a new addition this summer.
Of course, Morgan Rogers could be leaving as well, with Arsenal ramping up their interest and pursuit.
Villa are set to begin their preseason on Tuesday night, with a friendly at Walsall FC, a League Two (fourth division in the FA pyramid) club. Perhaps Joao Gomes will be finalized and announced by then.
Maybe he will even play a few minutes in that preseaon match.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.