Wolves academy spreading its network worldwide – Jeff Shi

Shi insists the academy has been ‘redefined’ during Fosun’s tenure so far, and the onus is on now making it a truly self-sustainable entity.

“After I came to Wolves, I redefined the identity of the academy, and now they are 100 per cent independent, not only living under the shadow of the first-team,” he said.

“The Wolves academy is a unique brand with their own philosophy, their own strategy, their own dream, their own finance, a company run by itself and, in the future, will have more partnership academies across the world.

“I see the academy as parallel to the first-team. Even without the first-team, our academy is strong, but still has room to grow and develop.

“Certainly, the Wolves first-team is currently the biggest client for them.

“They try hard to sell their players to the first-team, meanwhile, they can also develop players, loan or sell the players to other clubs in the world.

“We are proud of every single graduate of the academy, no matter where they go.

“Not every boy who joins can get into the Premier League or the Championship, some may play in non-league, some may choose to go to university.

“The academy’s goal is to help and support all the players with our knowledge, experience and hard work, and give them the best career they can reach, whether that is with Wolves or the best pathway for them.”

Another part of the club Shi has vowed to offer more support is the women’s team.

They were denied promotion, despite being nine points clear in the league, because of Covid-19 causing their season to cancelled, but he is confident they will bounce back.

“I’m not happy about it and would rather they have finished the season with something better like points per game, but the past is in the past, and we can say the success last year has given the women’s team a strong, solid base to go again this season,” added Shi.

“I am very confident they will try their best to win the league.

“They know that if they need any help, I am here to support them.

“Last season, they started to train at Compton Park. Of course the pandemic stopped that, but I think this season we can try to do even more. It’s about inspiring more girls to play football.”