Wolverhampton Wanderers have allowed Tawanda Chirewa to sign for Derby County on a season-long loan deal.
Having signed for midfielder from Ipswich Town, Wolves would have always aimed to hand minutes to the youngster at some stage of his development.
However, on the back of Gary O'Neil having a number of attacking injury issues towards the back end of last season, the 20-year-old racked up one start and nine substitute outings in all competitions.
After accumulating 152 minutes across those appearances, Chirewa would have hoped to have remained in O'Neil's plans for the 2024-25 campaign.
Instead, the Zimbabwe international faced the prospect of staying on the periphery of the group due to new arrivals and other players returning to fitness.
As a result, the decision has been made to allow the playmaker to spend the campaign at Pride Park, the hope being that he will receive regular starts in the Championship.
Welcoming Tawanda Chirewa! 🤝🇿🇼 pic.twitter.com/OydJ7hrkyi
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) August 26, 2024
Wolves speak up Warne influence
Commenting on their decision to allow Chirewa to move across the Midlands, Matt Jackson - Wolves' head of professional football development - has revealed that their previous experience of working alongside Paul Warne was a pivotal factor.
Speaking to the club's official website, he said: "Tawanda's made great progress since he's joined us from Ipswich, being a part of that first team group. He's grown up quickly and matured to have the quality to cope there, and now we'll see if he can affect league football.
"We had a few inquiries for him, but we were looking for specific things. We certainly like the pressure of the Championship. We like the pressure of a big club, which you get at Derby.
"We really like the manager as well, he had 'Gilo' [Ryan Giles] before at Rotherham and we liked the way he looked after a young player there. So, it fits for Tawanda to go back under that tutelage, and we just think it's a place he can go and express himself and get a lot of game time.
"It's tough to play for our first-team here, but it's tough to play for Derby's first-team as well. He's going to have to really have his wits about him, both in terms of playing style, but also integrating into the squad and being in an environment that's difficult, with the expectation of a big crowd which really knows its football."
© Imago
Will Chirewa start for Derby?
Derby have collected three points from their opening three matches in the Championship, a respectable return given that they have faced Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough and Watford.
With Warne playing a 4-2-3-1 formation and Chirewa able to play in numerous positions, he can realistically expect to be used frequently.
However, Chirewa is just two months short of his 21st birthday and has only made two starts in his professional career, making it plausible that he could have to wait to be thrust into the first XI.
Darren Plant
