After Rodrigo Gomes signed a five-year deal at Molineux, with the Portuguese talent set to join Gary O’Neil’s first-team squad in pre-season, wolves.co.uk has looked at some of the key points surrounding the 20-year-old’s first jaunt into English football.
#1 Showing promise from an early age
Just like his new Wolves teammate Pedro Neto, Gomes came through the youth ranks of Braga, having been born in the northern Portuguese city of Povoa de Varzim. After initially joining Povoa Lanhoso as an eight-year-old, the young winger spent just one year at the local team before moving to Prozis Academy, which is where he came under Braga’s radar, signing for the club’s academy before becoming a teenager.
During the subsequent six years, Gomes learnt his craft in red and white, as he progressed into the senior side for the first time just after football resumed from the Covid-19 lockdown, playing in the Portuguese top flight in October 2020. He came off the bench with just two minutes of the 90 remaining of a 4-0 victory over Tondela as Braga got their first win of the 2020/21 campaign.
Gomes’ first-team debut came after he had hit three goals in his opening four games for Braga’s under-23 side to start the season, to help his team to wins over Academica, Boavista and Leixoes. But he was soon a regular on Braga’s first-team bench, while making further late appearances in the wins over Benfica, Rio Ave, Maritimo and Estoril, as well as making his first start in a 7-0 Taca de Portugal win over CO Montijo in which he set up the fourth goal. However, the winger was moved back down to the under-23s in January, for whom he scored five times in nine outings.
#2 An international regular
Since he first made his Portugal under-16 debut in November 2018 in a 1-1 draw against Belgium, Gomes has been a regular for his national youth sides, racking up more than 35 outings and scoring nine times during the following five years. His progression saw him move up to the under-21s for the first time in September 2023.
His first international goal came in an under-16 friendly fixture against Belgium in May 2019, as the right winger put Portugal ahead on 51 minutes before Belgium equalised less than a minute later. Gomes claimed a goal and an assist on his U17 debut as Portugal overcame Estonia a few months later, while he also netted twice in a U17 Algarve Tournament win over Germany in October 2020.
Further goals came for the under-18s and under-20s, before his best run of form on the international stage arrived early last season, as Gomes scored three and claimed two assists in Portugal’s under-21 Euro Championship qualifying campaign – all from the right-back position.
#3 European football experience
Having signed a new long-term deal with Braga in the summer of 2021, Gomes was promoted from the under-23s into the B-team from the start of the subsequent campaign, playing 15 times and scoring five goals in Liga 3, as he took the third tier of Portuguese football by storm, so it was no surprise when the winger was brought into the senior Braga side for the second half of the 2021/22 season.
Gomes played out wide right as well as left during his first prolonged spell in the Braga side, as he went from coming on late in games to being a starter, which included more than an hour in each of the team’s knockout games in the Europa League, as Braga progressed into the quarter-finals – with Gomes claiming an assist in the Last 16 first leg win over Monaco.
Despite beginning the next season with a first top flight goal in a 5-0 win over Maritimo, Gomes was more of a squad player as he continued to develop, while continuing to feature in both Braga’s Europa League and Europa Conference League campaigns, as well as notching his second senior goal to help Braga into the final of the Taca de Portugal, although he was left out of the final defeat to Porto.
#4 Rising to prominence at Estoril
With a need to get regular first-team football under his belt, Gomes took a year away from Braga during the last 12 months as he made the move from the north of the country to the Portuguese Riviera and join Estoril on loan for the season. Starting out on the left wing, Gomes soon found his natural position in the side as a right wing-back as Estoril switched to playing a back five following a run of just one win from their opening nine Primeira Liga matches.
Excelling on the right, Gomes scored and assisted in three separate games, with his first double coming in a 3-2 loss to Vitoria Guimaraes. He soon followed it up with a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win over Casa Pia, before being involved in all four goals as Estoril overcame Chaves by the same scoreline, with the wing-back scoring twice and providing a pair of assists.
Gomes continued to have an impressive campaign with ‘Canarinhos’ as he ended the season with eight assists and nine goals in all competitions. Gomes helped Estoril claim wins over Porto and Benfica in the Allianz Cup before defeat to Braga in the final – with Gomes not featuring as he was unable to face his parent club.
#5 Feeling at home at Molineux
When Gomes arrived in the West Midlands for the first time this week, he visited Compton Park during a time when the training ground was at its quietest, with most of the playing and coaching staff currently either away on holidays or with their countries for international fixtures, but when he returns in July, he will be greeted by many familiar faces.
Although Fabio Silva is the only current Wolves player Gomes has played alongside during his young career – with the pair having shared the pitch five times as Portugal under-21 players last season – Gomes will be welcomed into a group by several of his fellow countrymen, with the winger extending the number of Portuguese in Gary O’Neil’s squad at the start of the summer to nine.
He will also become the third current squad member who previously played for Estoril, joining Toti and Chiquinho in making the move to Molineux. While Estoril also played a key role in the development of former Wolves men Renat Dadashov and Matheus Nunes before their spells in gold and black.
