Aston Villa’s midfield rebuild is progressing quickly with the signing of Joao Gomes from Wolves. And while the Brazil international has been unsettled at Molineux, there are good reasons to believe he could become a popular figure at Villa Park.
This is a fantastic opportunity to play Champions League football for a player who deserves better than relegation from the Premier League. He was Wolves’ Player of the Season last year, winning the supporters’ version of the award.
His managers certainly seem to like him, too. “He’s a great player,” former Wolves manager Rob Edwards said earlier this year. “It was difficult for him because sometimes it can be difficult in teams that are struggling or not getting results.”
Before that, Gary O’Neil made it clear why his team-mates appreciate the now 25-year-old midfielder’s way of working. “He’s desperate to succeed, but he never gets the feeling that it’s for him,” O’Neil said. “You get a feel for the group.”
But what exactly will he bring to Aston Villa?
tackle. And many of them. Over the last three Premier League seasons, Gomes has made 380 tackles – 83 more than any other player in the competition. Once nicknamed ‘Pitbull’, his combative style would have caught the attention of opposing fans as well.
Over these three seasons, no Premier League player has recovered more possession than Gomes. There must be an element of positional intelligence to this trick, but the most obvious is his deft use of strength and body to protect the ball.
Wolves’ key weapon last season was winning again. Despite an extremely poor team, Gomes was among the top 10 players in the Premier League for expected goals generated after interceptions. He has a front foot approach.
In fact, Gomes covers the ground well and is far from a traditional holding midfielder. He is a man who is happier going for the ball. He pressured the opposition 1,646 times last season, more than any Aston Villa player under Unai Emery.
Wolves’ Joao Gomez’s defensive action areas in the 2025/26 Premier League season
He can also be an impressive ball carrier, averaging almost 20 carries per 90 minutes in the Premier League last season. Perhaps surprisingly, this is significantly more than Morgan Rogers and more than twice that of Emi Buendia, John McGinn, and Youri Tielemans.
So one wonders if this slightly confusing style is something Emery is trying to hone rather than unleash. Having an attacking and mobile presence in Villa’s midfield would be welcome, but the Villa coach prefers to be in control. We expect Gomes to mature.
Other parts of his game need improvement, but he feels like he’s a player capable of doing so. Gomes, for example, has rarely been praised for his passing range, but he is a reliable distributor of the ball and has time to improve in this regard.
Genius Sports uses a combination of tracking and event data to calculate the number of passes completed by a Premier League player compared to the number expected to be completed, taking into account the difficulty of the attempted pass.
Gomes is one of six Premier League players to exceed expected pass completion percentage by more than four percentage points in each of the last three seasons. This is just a small indication that he may thrive if there are better options around him.
There may be less optimism about Gomes’ goalscoring record considering he only scored once for Wolves last season. Ironically it came in his man of the match performance when he scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win at Molineux against Aston Villa.
Talking to Edwards after the game gave me the opportunity to ask him about Gomes. “When I spoke to him at the training ground before the game, I could sense a bit of pressure on him before the game,” he said. sky sports. “I told him I wanted more from him, and he really stepped up.”
Joao Gomez celebrates after scoring a goal for Wolves against Aston Villa in February.
However, the goal proved to be his last in a Wolves shirt, one of only seven in his 116 Premier League appearances to date. At least it started with a bang. Gomes came off the bench to score a winner for 10-man Wolves at Southampton on his debut for the club.
Considering Tielemans actually failed to score a Premier League goal last season despite his heroics in the Europa League final, and Villa’s top-scoring central midfielder in the competition was Ross Barkley with just three goals, this may not be a major priority for Emery.
But if you want a player with a great attitude in his prime and a humble but genuine personality off the pitch, Gomes seems like a bargain. Expect this tough tackling midfielder’s name to be called in Holte End soon.
