Wolves ban the agents

The club will welcome a record intake to their Academy next month with its boss Chris Evans confirming that 13 of the 16-year-olds Wolves have been grooming will move up to first year status.

The group, including one of the country's most coveted midfield talents in Telford teenager Kyle Bennett, is reckoned by Evans to be one of the most exciting as well as the biggest in his 17 years at Molineux.

And he has been given board backing to continue a ban on agents and rival club scouts patrolling Wolves' training ground.

Having fought off a string of attempts by people he labels as "predators" trying to get to Bennett and Co, the club's Academy boss remains as determined as ever to protect his charges.

"I've watched players such as Keane, Lescott, Naylor and Murray come through," he says. "But this is a pretty special group even by those standards.

"A youngster's development is never easy to predict but there is a lot of exciting talent there.

"We have known for some time there was going to be a big intake from this group which is why we have kept the numbers down in the previous two seasons. We know the predators are out there trying to get at them but they are not welcome and we tell them so."

Wolves total sales from Academy-reared players hit £15m with the departures of Joleon Lescott and Lee Naylor while the first team success last season was helped by graduates Mark Little, Daniel Jones, Lewis Gobern, Carl Ikeme, Kevin O'Connor, Wayne Hennessey and Stephen Gleeson.

Chief executive Jez Moxey is anxious transfer plans should not be seen as an abandonment of Wolves' commitment to their youth programme.

"We are planning to add to the playing staff from outside this close season but our commitment to the development and opportunity of our own young players remains unaltered," he said.