Portuguese winger Carlos Forbs has completed a deadline day loan move from Ajax to Wolves.
The highly rated winger’s loan will automatically become permanent should certain clauses be triggered, and he joins following a season in the Eredivisie, now returning to the UK having spent eight years as part of the Manchester City academy.
The pacy Forbs, who can play on either wing, moved to England at the age of 11 and was quickly snapped up by City’s academy in 2015, and was regularly amongst the goals and assists as he progressed through the age groups.
At under-18 level, Forbs played alongside Tommy Doyle, with whom he’s now reunited at Molineux, and by May 2021 was voted the club’s Under-18 Player of the Season.
Playing in Europe for the under-21s helped Forbs step up a level further, scoring 25 goals and providing 13 assists in a team which featured the likes of Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia, showing the threat Forbs carried.
When it came to a permanent move, Ajax won the battle for his signature and handed him 32 senior appearances, with his first goal coming in the Europa League against Marseille, while he’s already played six times this term, most recently on Thursday against Jagiellonia.
Forbs has landed 🛬 pic.twitter.com/itv4SScPCK
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 30, 2024
Internationally, the 21-year-old has played for four Portuguese groups, including the under-21s, for whom he has been called up for the upcoming internationals alongside Wolves man Rodrigo Gomes.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “Carlos was one we wanted to do last summer, and then Ajax made a great offer for him, and he got a great move to a huge club, and now we get the opportunity to bring him in. So, maybe it's just a year delayed. This is probably where the window dragging out and the player being available at the end has helped us get a deal over line.
“You can see how a lot of the boys have come out of Man City, we've got a great example in Tommy, and done really well at big clubs. For us to get a player that we wanted last summer, and now with a year’s experience in the top league, at a big, big football club, it's probably even more exciting than even last summer.
“He’s quick and wants to run in behind. He’s technically good, with the education he had, but he’s really direct, good one versus one, will look to stretch teams and with that pace will give us something we probably haven't got. We have it with Rodrigo, but he likes to come inside and play inside the pitch, whereas Carlos really wants to go one versus one and get at defenders.
“He's ready to go. He's been playing. He’ll go away with Portugal, hopefully do well, get back and get ready for Newcastle. He’ll have some time to know Gary and start working with him and the other players. He probably wants to get going with a new club, but we'll see him in 10 days and we'll be ready to go.”
