Wolverhampton, Jan 9 Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed Ivory Coast defender and Stade de Reims captain Emmanuel Agbadou on a four-and-a-half-year deal, which contains an additional 12-month option, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.
Agbadou moved to the Premier League after having spent the past two-and-a-half seasons playing consistently in Ligue 1. The 27-year-old Ivorian centre-back became the first addition to the squad under head coach Vitor Pereira.
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi welcomed Emmanuel to the club and said, "He’s a player our recruitment team has watched for a long time and Vitor agreed that he was the right player and the right character to strengthen our squad now. It was important we completed the transfer early in the window to help Vitor straight away, and, like all transfers, this one took a lot of hard work from a lot of people."
A 6ft 4 defender, Agbadou began his professional career in Tunisia with Monastir before turning out 64 times in the Belgian Pro League with Eupen. It was in France where his career trajectory continued, and having been a regular for the past two seasons, Agbadou took the Reims captaincy responsibilities in the summer.
Agbadou joined Reims from Belgian club Eupen in the summer of 2022. Since then, he has established himself as a regular starter, featuring in 14 of Reims' 15 Ligue 1 matches this season and frequently captaining the side.
On the international stage, Agbadou made his debut for Ivory Coast in 2021 and has been a key player in their qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sporting director Matt Hobbs told Wolves' official website, "Emmanuel’s a winner and he's driven. After the journey’s had, he's still unbelievably hungry. He’s the type of player the Wolves fans should love, because you're going to get absolutely everything he's got. On paper, he should suit the Premier League. There's plenty of ticks there.
"Obviously, you've always got the settling-in period, and it is the hardest league in the world, so it can take time, but he can fall back on his key attributes being akin to the Premier League."
Wolves are placed 17th in the Premier League table, out of the relegation zone only on goal difference. They have conceded the highest number of goals in the Premier League, letting in 45 goals in 20 games.
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