Wolves defender Dion Sanderson completes permanent Birmingham City switch

The 23-year-old, who joined the Wolves academy at the age of eight, returns to St Andrews to sign a four-year deal, after making 34 appearances for the club during a loan spell last season.

The deal, for an undisclosed fee, brings to an end Sanderson's 15-year stay at Molineux.

He first caught the eye during Wolves' PL2 Division Two promotion winning side in 2018/19 and went on to break into the Wolves first team squad in summer 2019, before making his senior debut under Nuno during a League Cup clash with Aston Villa.

Loan spells away from the club at Cardiff City, Sunderland and QPR following, before two stints at Blues have led to a permanent move away from Molineux.

Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said the move is giving Sanderson a chance to 'settle and be part of something,' as well as being a 'business decision'.

He said: "Dion is so well liked around the football club because of the type of person he is and everyone at Wolves would want the best for him and his career,” Hobbs said.

“He’s has had lots of successful loans, but he really wanted to find a permanent home. He was very comfortable at Birmingham, and we were able to negotiate a fee that we were looking for, as well as protecting ourselves in case Dion kicks on again through sell-on clauses and bonuses.

“As a business decision it’s great, but most importantly, this move is about being able to give Dion a career and a home where he can really settle and be part of something.”

A number of young players have graduated from the club's academy in recent years - and have either gone on to careers at other clubs or settled in the Wolves first team squad.

And Hobbs has praised the club's youth coaches for the work they do in preparing young players for senior football.

He added: “Having joined right at the very start of the academy, Dion’s development has been testament to the work of the coaches and staff who have helped him all the way through, but it’s also testament to Dion himself because of the attitude he had towards it all.

“Because of this hard work, we’ve developed value into a boy who came into the club at a young age, which demonstrates the academy and the loan pathway system we have in place at Wolves is working.

“Our aim when any young player joins the academy is to create careers. Those careers aren’t always going to be in professional football, but Dion was part of a good group, alongside Max (Kilman), Morgan (Gibbs-White), ‘Gilo’ (Ryan Giles), Elliot Watt, Oskar Buur, Niall Ennis – which shows if you can create a group like this and help guide them through the system, you’ve got seven or eight careers at a good level.

“We’ve looked at what worked with Dion’s group because if you can create a strong and competitive group, they can drive each other on in their progression, and that’s something we’re trying to replicate more and more across all levels of the academy.”