Wolves have signed midfielder Matthew Whittingham from Manchester City, with the youngster set to join the under-21 squad.
The versatile 18-year-old has progressed through the youth ranks at City and will now link up with the Old Gold’s development squad as the club looks to give additional options to James Collins for the 2023/24 Premier League 2 season.
Whittingham was a key part of the City side which won the U18 Premier League title last season, scoring seven times and earning 11 assists during his 17 appearances in sky blue.
The St Helens-born midfielder also showed his versatility, playing across the centre of the pitch in his favoured number eight and number 10 roles, as well as in a holding position and at left-back, and Jon Hunter-Barrett, Wolves’ academy manager for football, believes Whittingham will add a different style of player – and one that has a high ceiling – to the under-21 squad this season.
“Matthew is a player that we’ve been monitoring for a while now. He’s a pretty all-rounded player, but he offers a lot of versatility, in terms of being able to initiate the attack as well as sustain possession, create and score.
“We need that person and that player who can offer his specific skillset and services to this group. We don’t have a large under-21 squad at the moment, so having another option in the midfield will be good for us.
“For us to bring in any player into the programme at this stage we have to see that there’s not a ceiling to their development. Ultimately, they’ve got to come in and do well, and then the opportunities will come up for them.”
Whittingham is not the first young City midfielder who has joined Wolves’ under-21s in recent years, with the 18-year-old following in the footsteps of Joe Hodge and Harvey Griffiths, who both played in the Old Gold’s Carabao Cup win over Blackpool earlier this week having enjoyed success with the development squad.
Wolves Academy’s head of UK recruitment, Harry Hooman, added: “We’re always on top of the ‘bigger’ club’s players and monitoring the ones who are possibly looking to come out for a better pathway at some point, as we have done in the past with Harvey and Joe. We have given them a platform to come in, play games and give them an opportunity to kick on to the first-team.
“The opportunity came about to bring Matthew to Wolves, so we’re excited about where he might go in the future. We’ve seen him play in lots of different positions, but we see him as that attacking midfielder, an eight or a 10, so we’ll be hoping to use him a little bit further forward.
“He’s got good technical ability on the ball, a nice left foot, so we feel he can affect the game going forward and score goals on the final third, but he’s also got lots more to come, especially with his physical potential.”
