Former Borussia Dortmund coach lands Wolves role as director outlines academy review
Wolves have made a key academy appointment - with the arrival of Borussia Dortmund's former second team coach.
The club have announced that following an extensive recruitment process, they have brought in former Borussia Dortmund II head coach Christian Preußer to take up the role as the academy's head of football.
He arrives with extensive experience from German football in both academies and first team environments.
He took charge of Bundesliga 2 side Fortuna Dusseldorf, has won third and fourth tier German titles with SC Freiburg II and a youth championship with Rot-Weiß Erfurt’s under-19s.
Academy director Jon Hunter-Barrett, who took up his position in December after 14 years at the club, said: "I’m really excited to bring Christian to the football club.
“He has vast experience across different ages and stages of youth development and senior football. He also brings a unique perspective and freshness to the direction we are heading in as an academy.
“As head of football, part of his role will be to review our current principles of play and further define our Wolves identity – both in terms of how we behave and how we play. We are at a pivotal point with the club-wide reset, and it presents a real opportunity for growth. We feel Christian will add something different to the programme.”
Elsewhere, the club has also announced that Ian Sharps has moved from lead academy coach to a new role as head of coaching for the under 19 to 16 age groups.
Sharps has been a coach at Wolves for eight years - joining the club following his playing career that saw him rack up 500 professional appearances.
Making the new announcements, Hunter-Barrett also shared details regarding re-shaping the club's academy strategy, insisting there is always 'more we can do'.
He said: "I think the best environments, business plans, football teams and academies are built when everyone is aligned around a clear purpose and vision.
“Success doesn’t happen by accident, it happens by design. What we are trying to create is an environment where everyone, on and off the pitch, is working towards the same goals.
“We have reviewed our vision, our objectives and our targets, and held a second development day to refine those further. These appointments come at a time when it is important for us to review our football strategy.
“We’ve been successful this year in getting players into the first team, but there is always more we can do. The attitude we want is to continually improve and take every opportunity to get better.”
