The 18-year-old has risen through the club’s academy system impressively in recent years and was part of the first-team travelling squad for the Europa League finals earlier this week.
Tuesday’s appearance on the bench against Sevilla was Richards’ third time in a first-team squad, having been named in Nuno Espirito Santo’s possible substitutes against Aston Villa and Besiktas previously.
Across the 2019/20 season, Richards made the full transition from the under-18s to under-23s, putting in consistent performances in the PL2 and Leasing.com Trophy.
The winner of Wolves’ 2018/19 Academy Player of the Year, Richards is also a Republic of Ireland youth international, having played as high as under-19 level.
Academy manager Scott Sellars said: “Lewis had a really good year, playing for the majority of the time with the under-23s. We try to reward success and he certainly comes under that bracket and deserves it.
“He’s always had potential. We saw it as a 15-year-old when we took him from Brentford. Now he’s obviously growing up. Two years ago, he was excellent as a first-year scholar and won Academy Player of the Year. This year he’s been with the 23s and had a really successful season.
“He’s training with the first-team a lot and the staff know him well. To finalise contract talks and go away with the first-team to Germany was fantastic for Lewis and the Academy.”
