Hong Wan has struggled for playing time on loan at NK Varazdin and may have an uncertain future back at Wolverhampton Wanderers next month. The 19-year-old joined Varazdin on loan in February and has yet to make his first-team debut four months later, so he’s hardly proven to Wolves that he’s worth retaining next season.
At the time of his move, Vital Wolves suggested Wan could find himself behind Jessie Guera Djou, Matija Kolaric, Neven Djurasek, Ivan Roca, Tonio Teklic and Ivan Posavec in the pecking order under Samir Toplak, and that appears to have been the case since February.
He’s been left out of the matchday squad on eight consecutive occasions and risks stagnating if he can’t get competitive football. The 19-year-old has gained very little from his spell in Croatia and he’s not the only loanee. Vital Wolves have cited the struggles of Leo Bonatini, Patrick Cutrone, Ed Francis, Christian Herc too, so why are Wolves getting it so wrong where they send players?
Wan has one year remaining on his deal at Molineux, but he’s unlikely to dethrone Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Romain Saiss, Leander Dendoncker, Bruno Jordao and Morgan Gibbs-White next season, so a departure may be on the cards – on loan or permanently.
Time will tell what the club decide.
