Wolves have strengthened their squad with the signing of winger Bertrand Traore on a one-year deal.
The Burkina Faso international, who is nine short of 100 caps, brings a wealth of experience from various spells in the Premier League previously, as well as some of Europe’s top leagues.
The 31-year-old left Sunderland in the spring, having played 12 times on their return to the top flight last season and helping the Black Cats into Europe, and now bolsters Cesar Peixoto’s options, being able to play across the front line.
Much of his career has been spent in England, having joined Chelsea as an 18-year-old and progressing into their first-team, where he played Premier League and Champions League football for the first time.
Traore was a Europa League runner-up with Ajax as a youngster and spent three seasons with Lyon, before returning to England with Aston Villa in 2020 where he spent four seasons and scored ten goals in 62 games.
Between then and now Traore experienced Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir and Spain with Villarreal, before returning to Ajax for a productive campaign where he netted 10 times in 49 appearances.
Back in the Premier League for a third time last season with Sunderland, Traore also captained his nation at the Africa Cup of Nations, in a group which also included Nasser Djiga, and now the pair are reunited at Compton Park.
Welcome to the pack, Bertrand Traore 🐺 pic.twitter.com/SnqNpxYq9j
— Wolves (@Wolves) September 7, 2026
Executive chairman Nathan Shi said: “In this position on the pitch it was our aim to bring in someone who could have an immediate impact on the squad and give the coaching staff more flexibility and options.
“We’re delighted Bertrand has decided to join us. He brings extensive experience of the English game, which will benefit our dressing room, and he was the ideal match for Cesar’s needs in a right winger, so we’re confident he will help us a lot during a long and challenging Championship season.”
Head coach Cesar Peixoto said: “It’s a position we wanted and he’s a good player to improve the team, one more option. He has the right characteristics I want in this position – good one versus one, strong, left footed to score or assist and fast to attack the space. It’s a position we’re going to change a lot during the season, so we needed more player with different characteristics for us to have options.
“He needs time to get fit because he’s been working alone, and he needs time to know our idea of the game, but he is another option to help us fight to get to the Premier League. Like we saw on Sunday, the Championship is very tough, so we need two players in each position to manage the games.”
Technical director Matt Jackson said: “We’re really pleased. It’s been a long, ongoing process, we’ve known all summer about Bertrand's availability and worked hard with his representatives, knowing he was a perfect profile. We’ve looked at a lot of players as part of our recruitment and scouting process, and he certainly hits our criteria.
“He was at Compton on Friday meeting everybody and fitted in very naturally. His enthusiasm is great and he’s a teammate of Nasser’s with the national team and knows quite a few of our players from being in France. The international break was always likely to be the point where we knew where we were squad wise, with everybody up to speed, and that hasn’t changed.”
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