Old Gold | Wolves’ South American signings

Having started his career back in his native Brazil, Basso made the move to England in 2004, joining Woking, before being snapped up a year later by League One outfit Bristol City.

Picking up BBC West’s Football of the Year, Basso and the Robins fell just short of Premier League promotion, losing out in the Championship play-offs to Hull City.

Bonatini is arguably the most successful South American signing Wolves have made so far, with the Brazilian striker scoring important goals to help the club into the Premier League during 2017/18, having began his European career at Juventus, with a youth loan spell in 2012.

After his loan became permanent, Bonatini has since played seven times in the Premier League wearing the gold and black, but is currently on loan at Grasshopper Club Zurich, scoring the goals which have helped the historic Swiss club back into the top-flight.

With six caps for the Ecuadorian national team, Campana became Wolves’ first signing of the January 2020 transfer window, after the striker impressed at the South American Under-20 Championship by finishing as the tournament’s top scorer to help his team lift the trophy.

But with fellow forward Raul Jimenez in scintillating form in gold and black, Campana was unable to oust the Mexican from the team and had to settle for a place on the bench for the remainder of the 2019/20 Premier League season.

The first Ecuadorian to sign for Wolves when he made the loan switch from Red Star Belgrade at the start of Wolves’ first season back in the Premier League after six years away, Castillo had gained previous English top-flight experience with Everton and came to the club as an established international.

And it looked to be the case early in the campaign, with the defensive midfielder staring on his debut in a victory over Fulham at Molineux – which temporarily sent Wolves top of the Premier League table – following that up with a run of six top-flight starts.

In just his third year in the EFL, the winger helped the Welsh side to promotion to the old Second Division, winning Wrexham’s Player of the Year and a place in the Third Division Team of the Year.

After suffering a hamstring injury in only his second Premier League game, a fractured leg would then put him out for a long spell.

A successful trial at Wolves saw Finkler move on loan from Brazilian side Juventude to the West Midlands.

But despite the promise shown in pre-season, Finkler never made a competitive appearance in gold and black, and only made the bench once in the Championship, being an unused substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Colchester United.

When Raul Jimenez’s sickening injury left 18-year-old Fabio Silva as Wolves’ only striker option, Brazilian Jose was brought into the club in January, on loan from Real Sociedad, where he had been since 2016, scoring 62 times in 170 appearances.

A Brazilian youth international, who helped his country to Under-20 World Cup success, Jose became the only South American to score a Premier League goal for Wolves in April this year.

Wolves brought Marcal to Molineux from Lyon last summer, just a month after the left-back had helped the Ligue 1 side to the 2019/20 Champions League semi-final.

Having arrived in England almost 12 months ago, Marcal went straight into Wolves’ Premier League starting line-up under Nuno Espirito Santo, featuring in the opening day victory over Sheffield United, and the home defeat to eventual champions Manchester City, against whom Marcal suffered the first of his injury lay-offs.

Now staring in the Premier League with Aston Villa, Martinez previously had a semi-successful loan spell at Wolves from Arsenal, spending the 2015-16 season with Kenny Jackett’s side.

Martinez kept five clean sheets while playing for the gold and black half of the Black Country, with his final appearance coming in a goalless draw against Burnley, in which he suffered a thigh injury.

Uruguayan defender Villazan made history when he became Wolves’ first ever South American signing, all the way back at start of the 1980/81 season.

A big money move to Wolves awaited Villazan in the summer of 1980, with John Barnwell looking to bolster his squad ahead of a return to European competition and a clash with PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Cup.

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