Wolverhampton Wanderers are on the verge of completing their sixth signing of the summer, with midfielder Matheus Nunes set to join from Sporting CP. It comes after a lengthy pursuit which saw the West Midlands club take weeks to make breakthroughs with both club and player.
The 23-year-old Nunes is set to follow compatriot Goncalo Guedes as the second Portuguese star to join Wolves this transfer window, but this is obviously nothing new for the Molineux side, whose reliance on Portugal has become a running joke in recent years. Successive managers have come from the same country, while super agent and close ally Jorge Mendes has plied the club with players such as Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Toti, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Guedes, Daniel Podence, Pedro Neto and Chiquinho.
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But while Nunes would become a 22nd Portuguese signing since 2016 for Wolves, they are far from the first club to concentrate their recruitment around a single country...
Newcastle United
We all remember when the Magpies got into the trend of signing French players during the Alan Pardew era. A total of 13 French players were signed during the Englishman’s four-year stint at St James’ Park. The standout of that cohort was midfielder Yohan Cabaye, while you have probably already forgotten the names Emmanuel Riviere and Sylvain Marveaux. There was a five-year French revolution at St James’ Park but, looking back, it did not lead to the outcome the recruitment team were hoping for.
Arsenal
Long before Pardew started shopping for players born across the English Channel, there was one clear maestro bossing this strategy in Arsene Wenger. During his 22-year reign in north London he signed a total of 32 French players including the major hits of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires. But with so many acquisitions there were bound to be some flops along the way. Mikael Silvestre and Armand Traore are two of the most underwhelming Wenger signings that come to mind.
Inter Milan
The Italian giants went through a phase of importing Argentinian talent to San Siro at the turn of the century. The Nerazzurri signed 14 players from the South American country under six different managers from 2000 to 2006 including Hernan Crespo, Esteban Cambiasso and Juan Sebastian Veron. Although he was purchased a few years before, full-back Javier Zanetti helped inspire the sudden influx of Argentine arrivals and became one of the club's greatest ever stars over a 19-year period.
AC Milan
The Nerazzurri’s bitter rivals Milan also liked to dip into the market for South American signings. Their country of preference was Brazil, where between 1997 and 2008 they signed a total of 19 Brazilian exports including the dazzling talents of Kaka (Ballon d’Or winner with the Rossoneri in 2007), Cafu, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. With so many extremely gifted players you can understand why they made a habit of signing Brazilians.
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