Corbeanu joins Blackpool on loan

Winger Theo Corbeanu has joined Blackpool on loan for the 2022/23 Championship season having signed a new four-year contract with Wolves.

The academy graduate, who spent pre-season with Bruno Lage’s first-team squad out in Alicante, is making the step up to the second tier following his spells in League One last season where he impressed while on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons.

A Canadian international with six caps and two goals to his name, Corbeanu progressed from Wolves Academy, having represented the club since under-16 level, and became a regular fixture as a substitute during the 2020/21 Premier League season, eventually making his top flight debut in gold and black away at Tottenham Hotspur.

Following his time in the third tier of English football last season, the 20-year-old returned to Wolves in the summer where he was part of the first-team training camp and featured in all four of their pre-season friendly fixtures in Spain – coming off the bench in the victories over Deportivo Alaves and Besiktas.

After putting pen to paper on a new contact which will see him remain at Molineux until the summer of 2026, Corbeanu makes the temporary switch to Bloomfield Road, which Matt Jackson, Wolves’ strategic player marketing manager, hopes will give the winger the game time he needs to earn a place in the Canada squad for this winter’s World Cup in Qatar.

“It’s a big year coming up for Theo,” Jackson said. “He’s obviously got World Cup ambitions with Canada, so it would be brilliant if he could force his way into the squad and progress to that stage.

“He’s been with Bruno and the first-team throughout the whole of this pre-season and it’s the first time the coaches have seen him. They’ve had a long time to assess him and the contribution that he can make, but they just feel that he needs the challenge of Championship football – the same way that so many have done over recent years.

“By making that step up to the Championship, Theo needs to round off the things that he does very well with power and his pace, and his direct quality in terms of crossing and shooting. But he’s also seen the other qualities that are required to be a Wolves player in the formation that Bruno is currently playing, so he can work on those parts of his game as well.

“He’s being put into a coaching environment at Blackpool with a manager in Michael Appleton who coveted him during both transfer windows last season while at Lincoln City. He knows Theo’s qualities well, so we believe he can develop very nicely with Blackpool and we’re hoping that he can have success there.”

#LoanWatch #2022Transfers