Wolves confirm extending Tawanda Chirewa’s contract before sending him on loan to Derby

Wolves have confirmed extending Tawanda Chirewa’s contract before the Zimbabwean forward joined Derby on a season-long loan deal.

Chirewa has signed the contract extension a year after arriving at the EPL club from Ipswich Town.

His loan move to Derby will guarantee him first team minutes as continues his development.

Wolves said in a statement: “Tawanda Chirewa has signed a new contract at Wolves and joined Championship side Derby County on loan for the 2024/25 season.

“Signed from Ipswich Town last summer, the youngster was quickly part of Gary O’Neil’s first-team group and went on to make 10 senior appearances, eight of which came in the Premier League.

“Still aged just 20, the forward impressed the head coach and was part of the club’s pre-season camps in Marbella and Miami but is yet to make a first-team squad so far this season.”

Head of professional football development at Wolves Matt Jackson said: “Tawanda’s made great progress since he’s joined us from Ipswich, being a part of that first team group. He’s grown up quickly and matured to have the quality to cope there, and now we’ll see if he can affect league football.

“We had a few inquiries for him, but we were looking for specific things. We certainly like the pressure of the Championship. We like the pressure of a big club, which you get at Derby.”

Jackson added: “Games are so important. We like that exposure they get in the first-team, because they see how good they have to be day in, day out. It’s different if you just get occasional chances to show the first-team coach what you can do, but he was doing that on a daily basis. You learn the physical strength that’s required and the discipline you need to bring every single day to training. Hopefully he can now impact the Championship, doing that for Derby.

“He’s looking forward to the opportunity. He wanted to get out as quickly as possible. It’s great for him that contract negotiations were very sensible moving forward and great for all parties. For him, he understands at this stage of his career, playing is all important, and that’s the opportunity he’s now going to take.”

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