Young winger Emilio Ballard-Matthews has signed his first professional contract with Wolves.
The England under-16 international, who turned 17 earlier this week, joined the club in the summer of 2023 and featured on the first-team bench soon after his arrival from Watford.
Ballard-Matthews was named as a substitute for the first-team as a 15-year-old in the Old Gold’s Carabao Cup tie with Blackpool in August 2023 and has been progressing within the academy since.
That same month the winger represented England under-16s against Italy alongside Wes Okoduwa and continued his development with the under-16s at Wolves.
Last season saw a step up to Richard Walker’s under-18s group, and although an injury ruled him out for three months, the youngster chalked up 15 appearances and two goals.
Ballard-Matthews said: “It's a really good feeling to sign my first professional contract. I'm really happy and can't wait to get going. Last season I showed glimpses of what I can do, but now this season I'm looking to get a run of games consistency and show what I can do to help the team.
“When I joined, I had quite a quite a good start. I got called up for England and then got on the bench for the first-team, so it was quite a crazy couple of weeks. I had a really good season in the under-16s. Last year I found the under-18s quite hard, and got a few injuries, but now this season I’m just looking forward to staying on the pitch, staying fit, and doing what I can do best.
“The target is to get lots of goals, lots of assists, and obviously play games. I’ll try and get into that under-21s team, try and get on the bench few times, train with the first-team and show what I can do.
“When you see under-18s players going on first-team tours, it makes me realise I'm not far from that. I know my level, and I know where I can get to, so it's obviously good seeing that. I’m really looking forward to the season and showing what I can do.”
