Liverpool and Man City are both reliably credited with an interest in Wolves winger Pedro Neto, despite the latest red flag over signing the Portuguese.
Though Liverpool are yet to officially appoint their next sporting director and the hunt for Jurgen Klopp‘s successor is ongoing, recruitment plans are underway.
Ahead of the expected arrivals of Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes to oversee the club’s transfer process, head of recruitment David Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter are pushing ahead.
That would, it seems, include the earmarking of Wolves winger Neto as a possible target for the summer window.
Per the Telegraph‘s Mike McGrath – typically a reliable source – both Liverpool and Man City are interested in a deal for the 24-year-old.
The title rivals are described as being “among those who are watching,” though it is stressed that “he has also been on the radar of others who are looking to bolster their attack with a proven forward.”
Any deal with Wolves would be worth “upwards of £60 million,” it is claimed, though Liverpool have shown they are not averse to spending big.
If Fenway Sports Group sanction such an outlay, they must be convinced they are doing so for the right player – and bar perhaps Naby Keita, every signing of £40 million and up has paid off.
Whether Neto falls into that bracket, however, is unclear.
There would unlikely be many reservations over his quality on the pitch, despite a record 14 goals and 24 assists in 134 games for Wolves hardly standing out.
More concerning would be Neto’s fitness record, with the Portugal international forced off for the second game running on Saturday with a persistent hamstring issue.
That, manager Gary O’Neil explained after the 2-1 win over Fulham, was not a recurrence of the hamstring injury that saw him miss nine games at the end of last year.
Since joining Wolves from Lazio in 2019, Neto has endured six spells on the sidelines with different injuries, missing a total of 98 games for club and country.
If he is able to shake off his current problems, this season could be only the second time he has broken the 2,000-minute mark in a single campaign for Wolves.
The only other time he has managed that was in 2020/21, when he played more minutes (2,720) than in the next two seasons combined (1,552).
It is unfortunate, as prior to the hamstring injury picked up at the end of October, Neto was on a run of one goal and seven assists in eight Premier League games.
Neto has made the largest number of his appearances for Wolves as a left winger, though he has also featured regularly on the right and also as a No. 10 and up front.
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