Ki-Jana Hoever signed for Wolves in the summer of 2020 – and the reaction to his transfer was quite a warm one.
A lot of Wolves fans were disappointed to see Diogo Jota leave. But the club agreed an exit worth £45 million in total, and then Liverpool and Wanderers negotiated a £13.5 million fee for Hoever to move to Molineux.
It was seen as a fairly good deal.
Hoever hadn’t featured much for the Reds’ first-team. But when he had come in, he’d showed very good potential.
So, hopes were high for Hoever. But the move has not worked out at all so far.
The star has made just 25 appearances for Wolves so far, with Nelson Semedo the preferred choice at right-back/right wing-back.
Semedo arrived at Molineux at the same time as Hoever, and the Dutch youngster was never able to really outshine his more experienced teammate.
After two years struggling for game time, officials decided to loan him out to PSV Eindhoven for the 2022/23 season. The idea was for Hoever to get minutes, gain confidence and return to Wolves a much improved player.
But so far, his stint in the Netherlands has not gone well.
Hoever has made just eight first-team appearances so far, and has not convinced manager Ruud van Nistelrooy of his worth.
And now, Eindhovens Dagblad journalist Rik Elfrink has given a somewhat alarming assessment of Hoever at PSV. He said the youngster was ‘far too weak defensively’, and a ‘miscalculation’ by PSV to bring him in.
Earlier this season former PSV manager Aad de Mos also criticised Hoever, and like Elfrink, took aim at his supposed defensive vulnerability.
Not long after de Mos’ comments, PSV dropped Hoever for the first leg of their Champions League qualifying match against Rangers.
Ki-Jana Hoever needs a strong second half of the season, or else Wolves officials will be left very red-faced by his transfer
Elfrink’s comments on Hoever are really concerning.
Wolves have now changed to a back four, and so there is more emphasis on the full-backs to be strong defensively.
To hear he is showing weakness in his defending is not what Wolves officials will have wanted to hear.
Those officials that decided upon this loan move will now be sweating on Hoever.
Hoever’s £13.5 million transfer felt like a good deal at the time. But from what has been reported so far about his time at PSV, combined with his first two years at Molineux, it is looking like Wolves actually really overpaid.
It remains to be seen if Wolves will see about cancelling the loan to PSV and sending him elsewhere. Really, they won’t want to do that
Ultimately though, this does seem like a case of Hoever simply needing to improve. van Nistelrooy can’t be blamed if Hoever’s performances just aren’t up to scratch. He has to do what’s best for his team.