The 29-year-old completed his move from Bristol City today and it was a transfer which showed the synergy of Wolves’ backroom staff, with goalkeeper coach Tony Roberts pursuing the stopper for a number of years and working with the club’s recruitment team to eventually land his man.
Hobbs sees the move ticking a lot of boxes, as another leader is added to the group to provide competition to Jose Sa, while Matija Sarkic is able to depart on loan to continue his own development, with Wolves remaining in safe hands.
On strengthening the goalkeeper department
“Dan is a vastly experienced goalkeeper from the Championship and was Bristol City’s captain, so is another big personality, a leader coming into the group. He’s at a good age of 29 – a goalkeeper’s prime for the next few years – so it made sense from all angles, especially for a nominal fee.
“This move also enables Matija to hopefully play week in, week out, which at his age is important. He has high potential, but hasn’t played a lot of games, with his two previous loans being cut short due to injury.”
On bringing a big personality in
“If you look at the role John Ruddy played at this football club, I think the fact Dan is a similar sort of personality will be really important for the club.
“The captaincy at Bristol City is important because they play with a lot of young players, so the leader has to be strong and brave. You can never have enough leaders in the squad. There are plenty of positives to this from a whole football perspective, so it’s one we’re happy to get over the line.”
On the recruitment process
“This one was Tony Roberts as much as Julen. He’s a goalkeeper Tony knows and tried to sign when he was at Swansea but wasn’t able to get. He’s known about Dan for a long time. Just like we’ve had with outfield signings with Julen, we’ve worked with Tony to bring in Dan. It is work done by Tony over the last five or six years really.
“What is in the middle of these signings is suggestions from the scouting and recruitment team, who marry into the process. What it shows is how joined up everything is, players being put forward and players Julen, or this case Tony, know. It shows the scouting and recruitment team understand the types of players the staff are looking for and are able to identify them for him.”
On strengthening across the pitch
“It’s important, as we’ve shown with the rest of the squad, that every position has genuine competition. There’s pressure for other people to perform and keep their shirt.
“Jose had that with Matija also, but with the chance for him to go and play games week in, week out, and for us to bring in Dan, a slightly older profile, in his prime, everything aligns perfectly.”
On the ideal bedding in period
“Dan can come in and it’s not phrenetic. We’ve got ten days to build up to the next game. The players will have a couple of days off over the weekend which is important because they’ve not had many days off since returning, especially the World Cup boys.
“So, it gives him a few days to settle in, a few days off, then we’re back at it, building up to Liverpool at home.”
