Players who represented Aston Villa and Wolves after £38m Joao Gomes deal struck
Aston Villa are to set to complete the surprise signing of Joao Gomes from Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Unai Emery has been lookout for midfield reinforcements after Youri Tielemans was sold to Manchester United.
The need for more players in the engine room was only exacerbated by Amadou Onana sustaining a serious knee injury at the World Cup.
Johan Manzambi is set to join from Freiburg, and Villa have moved quickly to identify another target.
A fair few players have donned both a Villa and a Wolves shirt during their playing careers.
And 25-year-old Brazil international Joao Gomes will be joining some pretty well-known names in doing so, and Villa News has looked at some of the most notable.
Emiliano Martinez
Villa News previously identified three players who could sign for Villa after Manzambi's transfer.
Well, it looks like Joao Gomes will be one after Fabrizio Romano reported on Thursday that Wolves will accept a £38million package and allow him to have a medical at Villa Park.
One prominent member of Villa's first team who knows what it means to represent both rival clubs is Emiliano Martinez.
Nowadays he is a bona fide Villa great and a Europa League winner with the Villans.
But back in the 2015-16 campaign, the Argentina World Cup winner had a spell on loan at Molineux.
Leander Dendoncker
A very recent example is Leander Dendoncker, who also made the move to Villa Park directly from Wolves.
The Belgium international would only make 28 Premier League appearances for Villa, though.
Loan spells with Napoli and Anderlecht followed after he struggled to nail down a spot in Villa's starting XI.
He now represents Spanish outfit Real Oviedo, who were relegated from LaLiga last season.
Adama Traore
There were high hopes when Adama Traore signed for Villa from Barcelona in August 2015.
However, he was part of the side that suffered a dismal relegation that term, and things never worked out for him at Villa Park.
After a two-season spell with Middlesbrough, the rapid winger would make the switch to Molineux in 2018.
He spent five years at Wolves, albeit with a brief loan spell back at Barca, before eventually moving on to Fulham.
Cyrille Regis
A player who has done a real tour of the Midlands, the late Cyrille Regis represented both clubs.
He was better known really for his spells at West Brom and Coventry City, where is a legend at both clubs.
But he would spend two years with Villa between 1991 and 1993, representing Villa during the first year of the Premier League in 1992/93.
At the end of that campaign, Regis would make the switch to Wolves, where he spent just one season.
Joeleon Lescott
Joeleon Lescott was not a very popular player for Villa.
His one campaign was the aforementioned 2015/16 campaign, and he angered supporters with comments about relegation being a weight off his shoulders.
Some 15 years before joining Villa, Lescott had risen through the youth ranks at Wolves.
The former England centre-back left for Everton in 2006, and would later become a two-time Premier League winner with Manchester City.
Robbie Keane
Another who rose through the youth ranks at Wolves is Robbie Keane.
The Republic of Ireland great counts the likes of Inter Milan, Leeds United, Liverpool, and Tottenham on a lengthy list of clubs he played for during his career.
Towards the end of his career, he enjoyed a short loan spell at Villa Park.
Keane managed three goals in six Premier League outings for Villa, before returning to LA Galaxy in MLS.
Who else has played for Villa and Wolves?
Some other notable names have indeed both clubs jerseys.
A more recent example is Kortney Hause, who has been a free agent since being released by Villa in June 2025.
Rob Edwards, sacked by Wolves last month, started his career with Villa before joining Wolves, while Sam Johnstone, Carlton Cole, Marlon Harewood, and Grant Holt played for both.
Michael Oakes, Guy Whittingham, and Andi Weimann have also featured for both teams.