Jonny makes Wolves departure

Jonny has left the club after his five-and-a-half-year spell with Wolves came to an end.

The Spaniard is now free to join another club after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

The defender was an integral part of the Old Gold side which finished seventh in consecutive Premier League seasons and enjoyed thrilling journeys to the FA Cup semi-final and Europa League quarter-final.

A picture of consistency during those two campaigns, between which his loan move was made permanent, Jonny made the left-wing-back role his own under Nuno Espirito Santo, often doing the hard yards which allowed the whole team to flourish.

It was against Olympiacos in the Europa League last 16 where his luck changed however, as the now 29-year-old suffered the first of two serious knee injuries in the space of nine months, which brought his momentum in old gold to a sudden halt. 

Despite returning to fitness in February 2022, a regular place in the Wolves eleven has since eluded Jonny, who still managed to win the Premier League Goal of the Month award last March, following a 41-yard strike against Leeds United.

His final appearance for the club came in September, as a substitute in the win over Manchester City in September, and Jonny leaves the club with 134 appearances and six goals.

Sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “Jonny hasn’t played a lot of football over the last couple of years, so he wants to go and play and we’re happy to give him that chance. He’s been a great servant to us, so we tried to make this happen for him as quickly as possible.

“Doc is the last one left from the starting Europa League group, and he came back, so Jonny leaving is another one gone from that era, from a group of players that will always be welcomed back to the club, for what they did for the club and Jonny will be held in the same regard.

“In the modern era, he was part of the most successful team we’ve had, so the only way Jonny should be remembered is for being an important part of it. Every team needs players where the manager knows exactly what he’s going to get. He raised one child here and had another here and loved the city. When you come to putting a team together, that’s really important.”

The return of Rayan Ait-Nouri from international duty sees Gary O’Neil return to his full complement of four full-backs, joining Hugo Bueno, Nelson Semedo and Matt Doherty, which Hobbs believes leaves Wolves in a healthy position.

“We’ve got two fantastic, young left-backs and ‘Doc’ can play on both sides, so we’ve got a group of four full-backs and are really well covered, and Toti is able to drop in too, so we’re in a healthy position.

“In football every team goes through eras and what we’re starting to create is a new group which has the same potential and is equally as exciting, in a much tougher Premier League. With our group, we’d like to think we’re building something that can emulate what that team did.”