Tolu Arokodare completes Wolves exit as Ajax land striker with buy option

Tolu Arokodare admitted he had been “impatient” to leave Wolves after completing his loan move to Ajax.

The Eredivisie side have agreed a season-long loan deal for the Nigeria international, which includes an option to buy the striker for around £17million next summer.

The move comes after Arokodare was involved in an incident at Wolves’ Compton training ground, where a session was cancelled after the forward refused to leave the first-team group. Extra security was later drafted in at Compton to prevent a repeat.

Speaking after completing his move to Ajax, Arokodare said: “I have been very impatient because I knew about the interest from Ajax for a while. I couldn’t wait to get the deal done.

“I kept putting the pressure on my agent and finally it happened. I am happy, I can’t wait to start.”

He added: “I thought he (my agent) was joking at first. I never thought of it or imagined it. When he said it to me I was like ‘okay, I like this, I am interested’.

“It is one of the biggest teams in European football and I can’t wait to join and help the team.”

Ajax will cover Arokodare’s full wages for the 2026/27 season, while also paying Wolves a £1million loan fee.

The deal also includes further bonuses for Wolves based on Ajax’s qualification for European competitions. Ajax finished fifth in the Dutch top division last season and will play in the Europa League Conference this season, should they progress through the play-offs.

Wolves signed the Nigerian striker for almost £24m from Genk last summer, with Arokodare scoring six goals in 38 appearances last season.

Both club and player had been working on a move away this summer, with Arokodare initially left out of Wolves’ pre-season training camp in Portugal.

He was later flown out for one session to cover for Adam Armstrong’s calf injury but did not feature in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Estoril, instead watching from the stands.

After returning to Compton, Arokodare was involved in the training ground incident and subsequently missed Wolves’ friendlies against Maidenhead and Real Sociedad.

The striker later responded on social media to what he described as “inaccurate” media reports, although he did not specify which details he was disputing.

A number of clubs had shown interest in Arokodare this summer, with Fiorentina and Trabzonspor among those to have bids rejected.

Trabzonspor eventually had an offer accepted by Wolves, but the player turned down the move as he favoured Italy as his destination. He has now instead secured a loan switch to Ajax.