Bruno Lage: I hope Willy Boly can have a Wolves future

The centre-back is yet to play in the Premier League this season and has suffered from several injury and illness setbacks.

He is currently out with a calf knock and was withdrawn from the Ivory Coast squad for the African Cup of Nations.

Although Lage has reiterated his desire to sign a new centre-back this month, the head coach also hopes Boly can be useful in seasons to come.

“For now, we need a centre-back as soon as possible to have the solutions inside our team,” Lage said.

“This situation is not good for me, it’s not good for Boly and it’s not good for the club.

“Every time he comes and goes and then he comes and goes.

“Give him time to work to prepare himself. He was important in the past and I hope he can be important to help the team to be better.

“He has a contract with us and he’s a top player.

“It was good, in my opinion, that he stayed with us and he didn’t go to the national team.

“That means something. This is the kind of signal, when you are waiting for what the player wants to do, and he preferred to stay here with us to recover. This is a good signal.”

On his recovery, Lage added: “He’s recovering. I saw Boly at training yesterday running, so it’s day by day.

“It was good for him to remain with us and not go to his national team.

“What I want for now, is that he recovers everything and joins the team when he is ready to help.”