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

Rob Edwards says Nigel Lonwijk will be given a pre-season window to impress, challenging the 23-year-old to show he is ready for Wolves. According to ExpressAndStar.com, Edwards plans to assess the defender closely this summer.

Lonwijk signed a one-year extension last summer, taking his contract to 2027, before joining Luton on loan where he made 45 appearances in all competitions.

Since the end of the League One season, he has been back training with Wolves in the last few weeks alongside fellow loanees Tommy Doyle and Tawanda Chirewa.

He is yet to make a senior Wolves debut. The Dutchman has had three seasons in League One across six loans, turning out for Huddersfield Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle, and he won the 2022/23 title with Plymouth after 41 outings.

Asked if the natural next step is Wolves duty in the Championship next season, Edwards said that is how Lonwijk will view it, but the onus is on him to prove it in pre-season. He spoke of building a strong, competitive squad for a demanding league, noting Lonwijk has made a good first impression and that time will tell.

Beyond Lonwijk, Doyle and Chirewa, no other loanee has returned to train in the final weeks of the Premier League season after their campaigns ended, including Ki-Jana Hoever, who spent the second half of the season at Sheffield United.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com