Wolverhampton Wanderers transfer news from BirminghamLive as club prepares for the 2023/24 Premier League season
Wolves are spoiled for choice at left back, which suggests we might see one of their players move on this summer.
As things stand, Julen Lopetegui can pick from Hugo Bueno, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Ryan Giles, Toti and Jonny for the left back spot, more than the club needs, especially in a summer when they need to raise funds to stay the right side of Financial Fair Play rules.
Middlesbrough are known to be interested in Giles after the 23 year old spent last season on loan there, helping Michael Carrick’s side reach the Championship play-off semi finals. But it seems they will have competition for the Wolves academy graduate should the club decide to sell a player who thrived at Championship level last season, providing 11 assists for Michael Carrick’s side.
That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Luton Town who, according to the Daily Mail, are weighing up a £5m offer for the player who can operate down the left side and is well known to Hatters boss Rob Edwards, the former Wolves academy coach.
Although Giles has only made one senior Wolves appearance, in an FA Cup tie against Shrewsbury in 2019, he has more than 150 first-team games under his belt thanks to loans at Telford, Shrewsbury, Coventry, Rotherham, Cardiff, Blackburn and now Middlesbrough.
Wolves won’t be surprised by interest in Giles. In an interview this summer, Matt Jackson, the club’s then strategic player marketing manager, who oversaw players out on loan, told the Athletic : “We get calls from all over Europe about him. A lot of times, clubs play 4-3-3 and they want to play him in either of the wide positions in that formation. Teams playing old-fashioned wingers definitely covet him as well.
“He’s proven he has the strength to play as a wing-back, which is not easy. We’ve seen him play as a winger at Cardiff and as a full-back at Middlesbrough and be more productive at Middlesbrough, so it’s not really about the position — it’s about the way the lads are encouraged to play within the system.”
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