Boubacar Traore probably hasn’t had the spell at Wolves he would have been hoping for after his move to Molineux in 2022.
Boubacar Traore completed a deadline day move to Wolves from Metz for around £9.5 million (BBC Sport), and there were high hopes for the Mali international.
But it’s been a bit of a slog so far for Traore, given he’s had some strong competition for minutes during his time at the club.
In recent times, Joao Gomes and Andre have been undroppable.
But previously, he’s also struggled for starts ahead of the likes of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Mario Lemina and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
Vitor Pereira has previously expressed guilt at not handing Traore many minutes, but just hasn’t been able to find a way to get him more involved.
So the reason Traore isn’t with the team right now should probably come as little surprise.
Boubacar Traore set to leave Wolves on loan
It has been reported by Liam Keen for the E&S that Traore was given permission to miss Wolves’ training camp in Portugal so that he can sort out his future.
Wolves want to send him out on loan for the 2025/26 season, and it’s stated the club are working on facilitating his exit.
This comes after it was claimed Wolves would listen to offers for Traore and a few other players.
At this stage, there is no word publicly about interest from any clubs, but it probably won’t be long until there are developments.
He would become the third first-team player to leave Wolves on loan in this window, after the exits of Tommy Doyle to Birmingham City and Nasser Djiga to Rangers.
Traore loan exit would be the right decision
It felt ominous when Traore’s name was missing from the list of players heading to Portugal for Wolves’ training camp.
It did feel as though a loan exit for him this summer could be on the cards due to his lack of opportunities at Molineux and position in the pecking order.
Wolves sending Traore out on loan for 2025/26 would arguably be a very wise decision.
He has actually shown some good glimpses across the past few years, particularly towards the end of the 2023/24 season under Gary O’Neil.
But he has been very unfortunate with injury, and missed a large chunk of last season after suffering a setback against Burnley in the EFL Cup.
Wolves had intended to send Traore on loan to Feyenoord after that game, but the injury meant it broke down.
Perhaps that could be an option for him again, and Wolves know it’s a decent destination to send a player after Hugo Bueno had a productive spell there last term.
Perhaps Traore could also head back to France, and find the kind of form there that convinced Wolves to sign him in the first place.