Connor Ronan makes Wolves departure for Colorado Rapids in £500k deal

The midfielder, who joined the academy aged 16 in 2014 and made his senior debut in 2016, spent nine years with Wolves.

During that time, the 24-year-old had several loan moves, including spells at Walsall, Grasshoppers and St Mirren.

This season he finally made his Premier League debut when interim boss Steve Davis brought him off the bench against Brighton in November.

He now leaves for America, where he joins up with former Wolves team-mate Jack Price.

Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “Connor spent a long time at the football club and is really highly regarded as a person and a player. This is an excellent opportunity for him, he had three of four offers, but this is the one he wanted to explore. I think the fact there’s a Wolves alumnus in Jack Price there makes it easier and we were happy to help facilitate it.

“All of Connor’s attributes are top class, his character, his work ethic and his professionalism – he’s got everything it takes to be a success. Obviously, we’d have loved it to be here, and it hasn’t quite worked out, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do well, whether it’s a long career in the MLS or in Europe, but he has the ability and personality to do either.

“The job of the academy is to create players for our first-team, but also create careers. The amount of careers it’s starting to produce, with players at all levels of football, is impressive. Jon [Hunter-Barrett] and his staff have done an excellent job, but they know they’ve got to keep the levels high and do even better.”