Phil Ofosu-Ayeh looks on his way out of Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer as he’s out of contract in the coming months and has been out of favour ever since he arrived at Molineux in 2017.
The 28-year-old spent his debut season in the reserves, his second season out on loan to third-division German clubs and his third season out in the cold, training at Compton Park without any chance of getting first-team football.
Prior to joining Wolves, Ofosu-Ayeh struggled to settle at one club in Germany, had picked up numerous injuries down the years and had no experience of top-flight football in nearly a decade as a professional. So why was he signed?
As per Transfermarkt, Ofosu-Ayeh’s had a nomadic professional career, playing for SV Wilhelmshaven (2009-2011), Rot-Weiß Erfurt (2011-2013), MSV Duisburg (2013-2014), VfR Aalen (2014-2015) and Eintracht Braunschweig (2015-2017) before Wolves took a gamble on him.
As per Transfermarkt, the Ghanaian international made 30 appearances for a Wilhelmshaven side languishing in the fourth-tier of German football, 60 appearances for a Rot-Weiß Erfurt side inconsistent in the third-tier, 38 appearances for a Duisburg side in the third-tier, 35 appearances for an Aalen side that were relegated from the second-tier and 40 appearances for a Braunschweig side that were a top-half side in the second-tier.
Ofosu-Ayeh had suffered a number of injuries too – fever (2013), torn muscle fibre (2014), hamstring injury (2015), Achilles irritation (2016), Achilles tendon injury (2016), torn muscle fibre (2017), knee problem (2017). Did Wolves do any research on the defender?
Since his move to Molineux, the 28-year-old has missed more than 260 days due to tendonitis, lack of match fitness, a muscle strain, muscular problems and a heel bone injury. He’s unsurprisingly not played a minute in the first-team for Wolves and had to be loaned out to the third-tier of German football just to get playing time last season.
The only plus is that he was a free transfer and didn’t cost the club too much money.
