Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club News

• Nickname:Wolves
• Founded:1877
• Manager:Terry Connor

• Ground:Molineux
• Capacity:28,525

Wolves snap up Van Damme

01 Jun 2010 - 11:08:36

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Wolves have made their first signing of the summer after securing Belgium defender Jelle Van Damme on a three-year contract.

The 26-year-old international centre-half has joined the Molineux club for an undisclosed fee from Anderlecht.

Van Damme, who spent one season in the Premier League with Southampton in 2004-05, is relishing the prospect of returning to England.

"I've played in the Champions League and won two titles with Anderlecht," he told the club's official website.

"I'm coming up to 27 now and even in the Anderlecht squad I was one of the most experienced players.

"It was quite a young team but in the last season we achieved quite a lot including making progress in the Europa League.

"I hope to bring that over to this group and help by becoming one of the leaders in this team if I can."

Van Damme will join former Anderlecht team-mates Adlene Guedioura and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia in a growing contingent at Molineux when pre-season training begins.

"He is a versatile defender who can play in several different positions and also boasts Champions League experience with Anderlecht and 22 international caps with Belgium," added manager Mick McCarthy.

"There were other clubs who were keen to sign him but we were able to get in early and register our interest and get the deal done.

"He's older and more experienced than the last time he played in the Premier League and I'm looking forward to working with him."