Yahoo News Ki-Jana Hoever transfer crossroads as Wolves pip Chelsea for teen star
A penny for the thoughts of Wolves about Ki-Jana Hoever as they strike a deal worth nearly £13 million for teen Brazilian right-back Pedro Lima.
Hoever, aged 22, has spent the last season-and-a-half on loan at Stoke City, getting his first real regular taste of senior football. He has shown glimpses of his potential - no one has scored more league goals for Stoke during that time and ended last season as clear first choice right-back - but he remains a work in progress.
But he will be wondering how he can break through at parent club Wolves to continue getting the playing time he needs for his development at this stage of his career.
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Nelson Semedo, aged 30, was first choice right wing-back in the season just finished at Molineux, starting 36 Premier League matches, and Lima, who is only 17, is reportedly heading straight into Gary O'Neil's first team squad while Matt Doherty, aged 32, is still there as competition.
Lima broke into the Sport Recife team in January when he was still only 16 and has played for Brazil at youth level. Chelsea had apparently been in talks about taking him to Stamford Bridge - and a loan to their sister club Strasbourg - but Sport Recife have confirmed he will complete the switch to Wolves on July 1 subject to a medical.
Steven Schumacher was clear last month that he would take the chance to work with Hoever - and his other three loan starters from the final day - again but he already has two players of his own already in Junior Tchamadeu, aged 20, and Lynden Gooch, aged 28.
Stoke are not expected to move for a right-back while they have two in that position but the summer transfer window has only just opened and there are two-and-a-half months remaining for plates to spin.
Hoever joined Wolves from Liverpool in 2020 on a five-year deal reportedly worth £9m and saw Diogo Jota move the other way. He signed a 12-month contract extension last summer before moving to Stoke, tying him to Wolves until 2026.
"He's signed a new contract to protect us, so he’s not coming back with one year to go," said Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs at that point. “He’s got to go there and show more of what he showed last season. He was one of the most dangerous full-backs in the Championship at one point, but we want to see that over a whole season.”
Stoke City loanees in 2023/24
Ki-Jana Hoever (aged 22, from Wolves, 35 league starts, five sub appearances, four goals, five assists)
Luke McNally (aged 24, from Burnley, 36 starts, two sub, two goals, one assist)
Mark Travers (aged 25, from Bournemouth, 13 starts)
Daniel Iversen (aged 26, from Leicester, 18 starts)
Luke Cundle (aged 22, from Wolves, 11 starts, five sub, two goals, two assists)
Sead Haksabanovic (aged 25, from Celtic, 11 starts, eight sub, one goal, two assists)
Chiquinho (aged 24, from Wolves, one start, two sub)
