Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed highly rated Sporting Lisbon keeper Rui Patricio on a free transfer. The Portuguese keeper won the Euros back in 2016 and reached the round of 16 in the World Cup in Russia.
For his club, Patricio has been immense for some time. He has played 460 times for them keeping 179 clean sheets in the process. He has played 75 times in Europe for the Portuguese club, 26 of which coming in the Champions League and the rest in the Europa League.
Football expert Tom Kundert on Rui Patricio:
“Wolves is the perfect place for him to be because he’ll have a lot of Portuguese players around him and the manager too. I’m sure everyone will make sure he settles quickly. Mentally he’s a very strong goalkeeper and that should stand him in good stead going into a new environment.”
Fantasy Premier League Potential (4.5m)
Patricio was a tad late to be put on the Fantasy Premier League game, but that hasn’t put off people selecting him in their teams. 1.7% of FPL managers have picked him already which is great to see from a newly promoted team’s goalkeeper.
The high caliber of the player is a definite factor as Wolves have done fantastically well to secure the services of one of Europe’s top keepers. His clean sheet ratio is just brilliant and with him between the sticks, Wolves can look further than just avoiding relegation this campaign. His £4.5m price tag is the cherry on top and will be in many teams come August.
Wolves’ first five fixtures are as follows: Everton (H), Leicester (A), Manchester City (H), West Ham (A) and Burnley (H). It’s an OK start for Wolves and Patricio could easily grab a couple of clean sheets from these five matches.
Written by Harry Clark (@HarryClark67)
