Wolves snap up Newport County starlet Lee Evans

Wolves today snapped up one for the future with the capture of highly-rated Newport County midfielder Lee Evans.

The 18-year-old playmaker completed a medical and agreed personal terms before signing for an undisclosed fee as Wolves acted quickly to step in before other clubs.

The Wales Under-18 captain has penned a two-and-a-half year contract and goes into Wolves' development squad.

If he impresses, Evans, who has made 22 appearances for the Blue Square Bet Premier high-flyers this season and scored three goals, will step up to the senior squad at the end of the season.

Evans has been tipped as a future Premier League star and has attracted the attention of several clubs this season, including Stoke and Leeds among others.

The central midfielder broke into Newport's side last season and won a place in the starting line-up in the FA Trophy final against York at Wembley last May.

Wolves head of development and recruitment Kevin Thelwell said: "There has been a lot of interest from Premier League and Championship clubs in Lee.

"We've been tracking him for a long time and Stuart Webber and Chris Badlan have gone a great job.

"For an 18-year-old it's going to be a good step for him coming into the Elite Stage of the Under-21 league and those games – and the pace and intensity of training – will be different to what he's been used to.

"I very much see the remainder of the season being an induction into the Wolves way and into our style of play and getting him up to speed both mentally, physically, technically and tactically."

Evans said: "I'd been aware of a few clubs looking from reading the local press back home," he said. "But as soon as I knew Wolves were interested I just wanted to get here as quickly as I could.

"The facilities are superb here and it's a great opportunity for me.

"I'll go into the Under-21s set-up and from there it's up to me to impress and see if I can get in and around the first-team squad."