Confirmed: Wolves travelling to China for pre-season tournament
Wolves are heading to China for the first time in the club’s history for a prestigious pre-season tournament featuring four Premier League clubs.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team will take part in the Premier League Asia Trophy in July – a biennial pre-season tournament for top-flight teams.
Manchester City, Newcastle United and West Ham United will also feature in the competition, which takes place in Shanghai and Nanjing.
Wolves will play a semi-final in Nanjing on Wednesday, July 17 at the 62,000-seater Nanjing Olympic Sports Stadium.
They will then travel to Shanghai for either a final or a third-place play-off three days later, with games to be played at the 35,000 capacity Hongkou Stadium.
Owners Fosun have been keen to take the team to China as they attempt to grow the club’s brand in the lucrative Far East market.
Managing director Laurie Dalrymple said: "We’re very excited to be a part of the Premier League Asia Trophy this summer on the back of a fantastic first season in the Premier League.
"Through our ownership group Fosun, Wolves have a great connection with China and it’s important the club is involved in one of the fastest growing markets in world football, while also giving our fans from Asia the opportunity to watch Nuno’s team play up close.
"It will be a fantastic experience for everybody connected to the football club and we all look forward to visiting Nanjing and Shanghai in July."
The Asia Trophy has been held every two years since 2003. The Premier League set it up to held grow the game in the Far East and it’s also been hosted in Beijing, Malaysia and Singapore.
Fellow West Midlands clubs Villa, Blues and Albion have all previously taken part, with the Baggies competing against Liverpool, Leicester and Palace two years ago in Hong Kong.
If Wolves qualify for the Europa League second qualifying round via finishing seventh in the Premier League there will be just five days between the Shanghai game and their potential first European tie.
The Europa League second qualifying round first leg takes place on July 25. However if Wolves were to win the club's first FA Cup since 1960 they would head straight to the Europa League group stages.
