“Not the best situation” – Player on why he left Wolves in the summer window

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ki-Jana Hoever has told ESPN NL that he was keen to return to Stoke City this summer.

The 21-year-old joined the Premier League side from Liverpool in 2020 and made 25 appearances in his first two seasons at Molineux.

In search of regular game time, the right-back joined PSV Eindhoven on loan in 2022, but this move didn’t work out for him as he was restricted to 384 minutes from eight games in the first half of the last season.

In January, Wolves cut short the fullback’s temporary stay at PSV and then loaned him out to the Championship side the same month.

He managed four goals and an assist from 17 games for Stoke City in the second half of the last season, and has a goal and an assist from seven games this season.

Hoever, who is currently with the Netherlands U21 squad, believes his return to Stoke City would help in his development.

“I wanted to go back. It was also not the best situation at Wolves, with a manager who left a few days before the competition,” he said.

“I just wanted to get back to Stoke. I like it there. I just wanted to play football again for another year. I’m 21 and I feel like I have been with the first teams for four years and I think I have only played six months of those years. Now I just want to complete a year of playing regularly.”

On August 8th, Wolves parted ways with Julen Lopetegui and appointed Gary O’Neil as his successor a day later. They are 15th in the table after collecting three points from four games this season.

Chris’ Story: Losing someone to suicide

Dealing with two catastrophes in his life was something Chris believed he would never be able to express or speak up about.

“I just kept it all hidden,” he confesses.

But, thanks to the Wolves Foundation’s Head 4 Health project, he now has the bravery and strength to speak up.

Chris’s daughter committed suicide in 2021, 30 years after a previous tragedy.

Speaking as the Foundation seeks to raise awareness of World Suicide Prevention Day, which is observed on September 10th, Chris reveals that the loss of his daughter forced him to take action about his mental health.

“My first tragedy occurred in my life 30 years ago, and I bottled it up inside.” for all that time and was just going about things in the wrong way,” he reveals.

“Then there was the tragedy with my daughter, who had been really suffering and took her own life in 2021.

“Later on, I was at West Park Hospital and someone told me about Wolves Foundation and Head 4 Health and I just knew I needed to do something.”

Head 4 Health is a Premier League and PFA funded project with additional support from the City of Wolverhampton Council, which aims to improve the mental wellbeing of adults through informal and educational workshops and physical activity.

“Going to Head 4 Health has helped me so much,” says Chris.

“I wouldn’t talk before, it felt like I couldn’t, or I didn’t want to.

“But Head 4 Health has made me open up more to other people who are suffering like I am, and we are helping each other – it has created a bond like we are a big family.

“I’ve still got these little tears in my eyes, but mentally I’m a lot better than I was.”

“I think sometimes we men believe that opening up is a sign of weakness, that we are macho and can handle anything – but we can’t.”

“I know there are other people out there who are suffering in the same way that I am, and I have told them about Head 4 Health because it is the best thing I have ever done.”

“It’s the first time I’ve been able to talk about what happened because I’ve always kept it inside, and while people may have thought I was a happy-go-lucky person, it was actually quite the opposite.”

“At Head 4 Health, you know you are not on your own, everyone shares each other’s problems and it has helped me tremendously.”

Health and wellbeing manager Rachel Smith believes that Chris’s experiences highlight just how important Head 4 Health is proving to be.

“The improvement that Chris has had over the last two years since engaging with Head 4 Health has been phenomenal,” said Rachel.

“The courage it takes to share your story, especially when you’ve not told anyone about it before, and then the support he gives to other participants, is incredible really.

“One of the main reasons we set up Head 4 Health to begin with was around men’s mental health, trying to really break down the stigma and some of the barriers that men potentially face in talking about their problems.

“We are able to use the badge of Wolves to encourage people to come and to break down those barriers and show it is o-k to talk – it’s not a bad or negative thing.

“Nobody should be ashamed if they are struggling with their mental health – there is help out there which they can access.”