A great return, a great signing for Benfica! Guedes failed at Wolverhampton, now returns home

Gonçalo Guedes returns home, but only as a guest player. Still, he is a great signing for Benfica Lisbon, especially at a time when the Portuguese giants are fighting for the title. A future potential transfer depends on the agreement of both clubs, namely Benfica and Wolverhampton.

Guedes has literally grown up footballing at Benfica. In fact, the Portuguese winger is its offspring, having gone through several youth categories. He first transferred to the Lisbon side at the beginning of 2015.

Two years later, however, PSG snapped him up and paid €30 million for him. It should be noted, Guedes didn’t exactly play much for Paris, specifically only 13 games in which he didn’t register a single goal, but only one assist.

Back in September of that year, he went on loan to Valencia, where he also transferred in August 2018 for the sum of 40 million euros.

And it was in Spain, after all, that he was more successful. He played 177 games for Valencia across all competitions with a record of 36 goals and 30 assists.

He won the Spanish Cup with Valencia in the 2018/19 season. However, in August 2022, Wolverhampton claimed his services, sending over €32 million to Valencia for Guedes. And that’s where his goalscoring machine stalled, as he registered two goals and one assist in 18 games.

So it’s pretty much a logical step that the 26-year-old Portuguese is returning home, albeit only on loan for now. Indeed, as respected journalist Fabrizio Romano writes, Benfica will not have an option on Guedes.

The two sides have only signed a ‘loan’ agreement and under those terms, the Benavente native will return to England at the end of June. Unless the clubs decide otherwise in the summer.

Based on the latest information, Guedes was also interested in returning to Valencia, but in the end it was Benfica who succeeded thanks to lightning negotiations. In any case, the Portuguese winger has a contract with Wolverhampton until 2027.

Sources: Transfermarkt, Twitter – Fabrizio Romano