One of Wolves’ brightest young talents has opened the door to a loan move for the 2024/25 season.
Gary O’Neil turned to youth quite a lot last term, with the second half of the season proving a real slog as a result of injuries to key players.
Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto all suffered hamstring injuries and their absences led to momentum being halted.
O’Neil was forced to put his faith in prospects, with a number of debuts handed out.
Nathan Fraser was one player who broke through last term. He was actually given his debut before the injury crisis hit, playing against Blackpool in the Carabao Cup second round back in August.
Fraser got himself on the scoresheet, and was then given a handful of appearances over the course of the season.
Fraser has been speaking to the club and has reflected on the 2023/24 – and he also hinted at what may be to come.
Nathan Fraser open to loan move away from Wolves
By the end of the 2023/24 season, Fraser had made 11 appearances for Wolves.
O’Neil gave him opportunities when his main trio were out injured, but it was tricky for him due to his lack of experience.
He didn’t fare so well in the 3-2 defeat to Coventry City. he was replaced in the second-half of that game by fellow youngster Leon Chiwome, who arguably looked a bit more of a threat.
Fraser got one start in the Premier League against Fulham, and before that, he got 45 minutes in games against Newcastle United and Brentford.
Fraser didn’t really feature much at all for the first-team in the final couple of months of the season.
Fraser had actually been lined up to go out on loan in January. But the club being unable to sign a new striker meant that he was kept around. But the player has suggested he would be open to heading out this summer.
He said (via Wolves official): “I definitely want to be playing as much as I can, whether that’s here or on loan. At the age I am, I need to be playing regular football to develop, whether that’s here or anywhere else, and I’m excited to see where it is.
“When you don’t go on loan [in the January], it’s hit and miss whether you’ll get opportunities, because you never know with a squad as strong as this.”
Loan move for Fraser would be sensible
So Fraser himself would be keen to head out on loan for next season, after it was reported that this was an expectation for the teenager.
Fraser had reportedly been lined up by Shrewsbury Town last season, and he may well have headed there had it now been for Wolves not signing a new striker.
It was good that Fraser managed to dip his toe in the Premier League. That will now hopefully serve as his motivation going forward.
But a loan move for next season would be ideal.
It was clear to see across his 11 appearances for Wolves last term that Fraser is raw right now, and that is obviously to be expected.
It would be completely sensible to facilitate a loan move for him, so that he can experience regular men’s football in the Football League. U21s manager James Collins previously described Fraser as ‘a dream’ to work with, and so fans can rest assured he will work his socks off wherever he goes.