Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ki-Jana Hoever has told ESPN NL that he was keen to return to Stoke City this summer.
The 21-year-old joined the Premier League side from Liverpool in 2020 and made 25 appearances in his first two seasons at Molineux.
In search of regular game time, the right-back joined PSV Eindhoven on loan in 2022, but this move didn’t work out for him as he was restricted to 384 minutes from eight games in the first half of the last season.
In January, Wolves cut short the fullback’s temporary stay at PSV and then loaned him out to the Championship side the same month.
He managed four goals and an assist from 17 games for Stoke City in the second half of the last season, and has a goal and an assist from seven games this season.
Hoever, who is currently with the Netherlands U21 squad, believes his return to Stoke City would help in his development.
“I wanted to go back. It was also not the best situation at Wolves, with a manager who left a few days before the competition,” he said.
“I just wanted to get back to Stoke. I like it there. I just wanted to play football again for another year. I’m 21 and I feel like I have been with the first teams for four years and I think I have only played six months of those years. Now I just want to complete a year of playing regularly.”
On August 8th, Wolves parted ways with Julen Lopetegui and appointed Gary O’Neil as his successor a day later. They are 15th in the table after collecting three points from four games this season.
