WOLVES ACADEMY TRANSFER UPDATE

Wolves have sold two academy players while two youngsters released in the summer have found their future away from England. Meanwhile, a hot prospect has joined up with the U18s ahead of the new season.

Bastien Meupiyou failed to make a senior appearance for Wolves in his year with the club after signing from FC Nantes, and has now moved to Alverca in Portugal on a permanent basis. The France U18 international joins Chiquinho in the Liga Portugal, joining the side just two weeks after his former Wolves teammate. Though the transfer is permanent, Wolves have included a buyback clause and claim in the announcement that the move has been done with Meupiyou’s development in mind. Bastien played ten times in the Premier League 2 for Wolves U21s after recovering from a knee injury and featured on the bench for the senior side six times, though was never utilised by Vitor Pereira. Still just 19, it will be interesting to see if Meupiyou can break out in Portugal and tempt Wolves into triggering their buyback clause.

Marvin Kaleta is the second player to have secured a permanent exit from Wolves. The 20-year-old right-back never featured for the Wolves senior side but became a standout talent during the 2023/24 season when he was deployed as a right wing-back as opposed to a centre-back. The position change kicked on Kaleta’s career and a loan spell to Motherwell last season furthered his development. His strong physical presence and blistering pace made him a natural in his new position and even earned him a call-up to the DR Congo U20 side. He now joins Rotherham in League 1 for an undisclosed fee. Kaleta has already made his debut for the Millers off the bench in the season opener against Port Vale.

Two released players have found new clubs away from Molineux, with both leaving the country in pursuit of their next challenge. Goalkeeper Lucas Kibrya spent the last season and a half on loan with Wolverhampton Casuals in the Midland Football League but was let go at the conclusion of the 2024/25 season. Now, Kibrya heads to North Carolina to play for Chowan University Hawks in the Conference Carolinas. The shotstopper never quite broke into U21 football while with Wolves but now will try going down the collegiate route to break into senior football.

Indonesian international Justin Hubner has returned to Dutch football for the first time since 2019, when Wolves signed him from Den Bosch. The defender was with Wolves for five years before his release and now signs for Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie. The 21-year-old became a sensation after switching nationality to represent Indonesia and now boasts 3.8M followers on Instagram. Hubner made over 50 PL2 appearances in Old Gold and the news of his signing with Fortuna came shortly after the launch of his new fragrance, HBNR.

Finally, Wolves completed the signing of 16-year-old Welsh defender Ashton Williams from Bristol City. Despite only recently turning 16, Williams has already featured for Bristol City U21s in a Premier League Cup game against Exeter City. Williams was very highly rated by the Robins, who will be disappointed to lose a top prospect who had been with the club for seven years. The centre-back is a Welsh U16 international and joins a talented cohort of Welshmen in the Wolves academy system, including goalkeeper Lewys Benjamin, Josh Esen and Makenzie Bradbury, who only recently signed his first professional contract.