Rob Edwards offers Nigel Lonwijk pre-season chance to stake Wolves claim | OneFootball

Rob Edwards will hand Nigel Lonwijk a pre-season chance to impress, urging the defender to prove he is ready for Wolves.

According to ExpressAndStar.com, the 23-year-old signed a one-year extension last summer, taking his deal to 2027, before a loan at Luton where he played 45 times.

Since the League One season finished, Lonwijk has trained back at Wolves with fellow loanees Tommy Doyle and Tawanda Chirewa. Edwards said injuries made Chirewa’s campaign stop start, and welcomed their return for the final weeks of training.

Lonwijk has yet to make a senior Wolves debut. He has had three League One seasons among six loans, turning out for Huddersfield Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle. He won the third tier with Plymouth in 2022/23, featuring 41 times.

Asked if the natural next step is Wolves in the Championship next season, Edwards said that is how Lonwijk will view it, but the onus is on him to show it. He will have pre-season to do so, then coaches will assess. Edwards added that building a strong, competitive group for a demanding league remains the aim.

Beyond Lonwijk, Doyle and Chirewa, no other loanee has returned to train in the closing weeks of the Premier League season after finishing with their loan clubs, including Ki-Jana Hoever, who spent the second half with Sheffield United.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com