Wolves have recalled Dion Sanderson from his loan spell at Birmingham City within days of the January transfer window re-opening.
The Blues have moved swiftly to replace him, bringing in Teden Mengi on loan from Manchester United.
But why have Wolves brought Sanderson back from St Andrew’s, where he was performing well and impressing the fans?
The club’s technical director, Scott Sellars, shed some light on the decision in an interview with the club website.
“For Dion to be playing week in, week out at Championship level has been fantastic for his development,” said Sellars.
“It prepares him for his career and he’s doing well, and this is a good opportunity to have him back in the building, to have a good look at him.
“With[Romain] Saiss going to Afcon and [Willy] Boly and [Yerson] Mosquera injured, this gives us an opportunity to bolster the squad and also gives Dion the chance to be back at Compton, and for him, he can hopefully get some minutes, and we’ll see how the situation develops.
“He’s had two years out on loan and played lots of football, so to have a spell back at the club will be useful for him and us.”
Wolves have been fortunate to be able to keep the same central defensive trio for every Premier League game this season but that will be broken up when Saiss goes to represent Morocco.
Some fans may want an expensive new central defender through the door this month to account for that.
But it seems the club have decided to use a player they already have to fill the gap, which may only be a problem for a handful of games.
The bigger issue is that Sanderson has gone from playing every week to potentially just being cover on the bench, but it only takes one injury at this stage for him to get his chance in the team.
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