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Sporting Lisbon’s Rui Patricio will join Wolverhampton Wanderers in the near future on a free transfer, according to reports in Portugal.

Today was the last opportunity for goalkeeper Patricio to withdraw his request to terminate his contract, a request he submitted to the club last week.

That such deadline has passed, though - the Portuguese keeper is intent on leaving the club where he has played for the last 12 years and Wolves are understood to be in pole position if and when he does leave.

Patricio asked to be released from his Sporting contract on the grounds of “psychological and physical abuse”; he has a poor relationship with club president Bruno de Carvalho and the physical harm he refers to was after intruders stormed the club’s training ground towards the end of the season and attacked the playing squad.

A deal worth more than £16m with Wolves was thought to be close in the last fortnight, before Carvalho complicated matters by demanding more money and claiming that agent Jorge Mendes was holding Sporting to ransom - something Mendes and his agency Gestifute denied.

Now, though, with Patricio set to sever ties with Sporting, Wolves are thought to be closing in on their target on a free, reports O Jogo.

The Rui Patricio story

Wolverhampton Wanderers have targeted Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Rui Patricio as they look to strengthen ahead of the Premier League season, writes Shane Ireland.

Details of a Wolves bid for the 30-year-old Portugal international have emerged in recent weeks - and plenty of twists and turns in the proposed deal have happened since.

In what is threatening to become a real transfer saga just weeks into the window, official statements have been made by representatives on both sides of the move, allegations serious in nature have emerged, the player has appealed to cancel his contract...and still Patricio's future hangs in the balance.

Will Wolves get their man?

Here's what we know about the proposed transfer and what has been said about it.

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Who is Patricio?

Patricio has 68 caps for Portugal and helped his nation to their Euro 2016 triumph.

He has been at Sporting since 2000 and has made more than 450 appearances for the club.

Patricio played 50 games for club and country last season, keeping 22 clean sheets.

When did Wolves' interest emerge?

About a month ago, when Portuguese media claimed that Wolves were ready to bid up to £30m to land the stopper.

They noted that Wolves were willing to go to that price in order to gazump interest from Napoli.

However, Napoli have since appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their manager and he doesn't have designs on signing Patricio for the Italian club.

And do Wolves actually want to sign him?

Yes. They are keen for an upgrade on John Ruddy despite the goalkeeper's impressive form in the Championship last season.

Ruddy played all but one league game for Wolves who had Will Norris as back up.

How much would he cost and have Wolves made a bid?

Initial reports stated that Wolves or any other would-be suitors would have to shell out up to £30m for Sporting to sell.

But that speculated fee has dropped significantly in the last fortnight and it's understood that he was available for around half that.

Wolves agreed a €18m (£15.75m) deal for Patricio to move to Molineux, Jorge Mendes' Gestifute agency have said.

That fee would have been paid over four installments, the first of which would have been €4.5m (£3.95m), Portuguese sources have claimed.

Patricio, who was willing to make the switch to Molineux, then underwent a medical with the authorisation of Sporting.

What went wrong?

Well, this is where the situation gets a little sticky, and both sides have given different reasons for why it fell through.

It is understood that Sporting, after a transfer was all but signed off, raised their asking price by €2m (£1.75m) and Wolves rejected that proposal.

Why did that happen and what has been said?

Gestifute say that a deal had been struck before an 'unanticipated' demand from Sporting.

In a statement they said: "Gestifute did everything to get the agreement of an English club for the transfer of player Rui Patricio for the €18m euros intended by Sporting, and even the player, satisfied with this possibility, performed medical tests, with authorisation of Sporting.

"All this, once again, with the knowledge and express agreement of the president of Sporting.

"Surprisingly, the deal would end up failing late afternoon when Sporting executive manager Dr Guilherme Pinheiro, visibly embarrassed, told Gestifute that the president of Sporting finally demanded an increase in the price of €2m: "two million more or no business" - which was immediately rejected by the buying club. In two words: the business did not fail by any blackmail from Gestifute; the business failed due to an unanticipated and last-minute additional requirement to the already perfectly defined and agreed conditions."

What's been said about Mendes' role in the move?

Sporting, however, allege that Gestifute and Mendes, the agent with links to Wolves, demanded €7m (£6.1m) in relation to player contracts to push the transfer through.

The Portuguese club released a statement calling for "no more lies and manipulations" from Gestfitute and also referred to the transfer in January that saw Adrien Silva move to Leicester City.

Part of the statement posted on their Facebook page read: "On the subject of the transfer of Rui Patricio, there are no more announcements of Gestifute or circus performances.

"We ask this simple question for a simple yes or no of the Gestifute: the Gestifute demanded or not, so that the transfer of Rui Patricio would be made, more than €7m (£6.1m) to settle scores of accounts that they find due by clauses that existed in the renovation contracts of Rui Patricio and Adrien Silva in the time of Godinho Lopes?

"No more lies and manipulations! Did you order that €7m or not?"

Sporting's president Bruno de Carvalho, meanwhile, accuses Mendes of "blackmail" regarding payments.

Carvalho alleged at press conference that Mendes wanted a cut of the Patricio transfer fee, while also claiming that Mendes and Gestifute have asked for a €4m (£3.5m) payment said to be outstanding from Silva's move to Leicester.

Carvalho said: “Mendes wanted to take advantage of the situation, which is a crime." He then added: “Sporting cannot be under fear, under blackmail or under threat.”

What does Patricio think of all of this?

Patricio has made clear his intentions of leaving the Estádio José Alvalade this summer after falling out with Carvalho and with the Wolves deal having collapsed, he is presumably frustrated.

He has taken the step of writing to Sporting requesting to cancel his contract.

Penning a 34-page document, Patricio outlined his intentions to terminate his deal and other players are expected to follow suit after last month, a number of Sporting's key players and staff were attacked by a 50-strong group of masked thugs at the club's training ground.

Patricio wrote: "With all due respect for my colleagues who understand that they have the conditions to continue ... I understand that I do not have them and that I can not be required to maintain the contractual relationship, after all as described above.

"I have been subjected to psychological violence and physical violence."

What happens next? Is the deal dead?

Reports in Portugal have stated that a potential deal is not yet dead in the water and could be revived depending on the outcome of Patricio's request to cut ties with Sporting.