Wolves defender Ki-Jana Hoever has been dropped by Ruud van Nistelrooy ahead of PSV Eindhoven’s game with Rangers tomorrow night.
The two teams are meeting in the first leg of a Champions League play-off.
The PSV squad is flying to Glasgow today, but there is no seat on the plane for Hoever according to Eindhovens Dagblad.
After getting 90 minutes in the club’s first Eredivisie match, Hoever was an unused substitute at the weekend for PSV’s second game with Go Ahead Eagles.
And the former Liverpool has now missed out on the squad altogether to face Rangers.
According to Football Oranje, Hoever will instead play for Jong PSV (the club’s reserves) against FC Dordrecht tonight.
The development will be a concern for Wolves, who are hoping that Hoever will have a big season in the Nethlerlands.
The youngster has barely played at Molineux since his transfer from Liverpool two years ago.
And last season he made headlines for being the subject of a public blasting from Bruno Lage after he had gotten injured in the game against Crystal Palace. Lage had suggested that a lack of preparation from the player was to blame (via Goal).
Wolves want Hoever to play as regularly as possible in the hope of him returning to Molineux a much better and more mature player.
But this snub will be a worry.
And it comes after former PSV manager Aad de Mos questioned the player’s defensive capabilities. He said: “Hoever is not a right back. He is certainly not a right back for PSV.
“Hoever is vulnerable on the inside. He is a central defender. He is brought in on the basis of his international games with the Dutch junior team, the Dutch U19 team and the Dutch U17 team.”
Concerning signs as Ki-Jana Hoever is dropped by Ruud van Nistelrooy
This will be a bit of a worry for Wolves officials.
It is not a good sign to be missing out on matchday squads.
Seemingly there is no injury, because of the claim that Hoever will be featuring for Jong PSV tonight. It is actually claimed that PSV are ‘not completely satisfied’ with his development (Eindhovens Dagblad).
So it could be that van Nistelrooy feels he has better options at right-back at this moment in time.
Hopefully, this setback for Hoever will serve as a major catalyst for him going forwards.