Wolves have signed promising youngster Ethan Sutherland to join the club’s under-21s group.
The 18-year-old has arrived from Scottish Premiership side St. Mirren, days after making his league debut as a substitute against Celtic.
A versatile left-back, Sutherland was initially a winger growing up but has transitioned into the full-back position and caught the eye of the Old Gold’s recruitment team.
Sutherland already has first-team experience after spending the second half of last season on loan at Scottish League One outfit Alloa Athletic.
During that time, Sutherland made 16 appearances and scored two goals as the Wasps narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship.
After securing the services of another highly-rated youngster, head of international youth recruitment, Harry Hooman, said: “Ethan is someone that got experience playing men's football last year on loan in the third division up in Scotland. Playing men's football as a 17-year-old, we watched his loan really closely and monitored all his games, and he really impressed us.
“He’s a winger that's transitioned in terms of playing left-back and left wing-back last year. He’s very much a modern day full-back and wing-back.
“Being a former winger, he’s got those attributes that he needs higher up the pitch, but he also has that athleticism and agility to go and be a good defender as well. He’s another one that we're excited to see how he develops.”
Hooman has been particularly impressed with the experience Sutherland has accumulated at a young age, explaining that the varied games programme for the under-21s will only add to his experiences throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
“Naturally, with his loan last year and playing first-team football as a 17-year-old, he's been on the radar of a lot of clubs. We’ve had to keep on top of it, move quickly, and I think he's recognised that as well in terms of all the work that we've done on him.
“He had that exposure on loan last year, but then has been around the first-team group all pre-season and made his debut at the weekend. He’s played in pre-season games with the first-team and been on the bench in the Europa Conference League. That taste of first-team football probably means he has a little bit more experience than maybe some of our 18-year-olds, so hopefully that stands him in good stead.
“He will go into the 21s group, initially settle and develop with James (Collins) and Ian Sharps. There are lots of competitions this year for the 21s, so we have lots of different challenges across the season, whether it's league games, International Cup games, EFL Trophy games against senior opposition.
“It will be a really good development year for him and hopefully he progresses and keeps improving over the next couple of years.
“We look all across the UK, Europe and internationally now. We're always on top of players that are developing well up in Scotland. We've got a part-time scout based up there, Gary Anderson, so whenever we do go up, he's got a really good understanding of the key players we're monitoring and keeping a close eye on.”
