Craig Dawson: Wolves complete signing of defender from West Ham for 3.3 million

Wolves have completed the signing of center-back Craig Dawson

Dawson, 32, makes the move to Molineux on a two-and-a-half-year contract, sealing a return to the Midlands having spent a large chunk of his playing career at West Brom before moving to London in 2019.

Although Wolves continue to be linked with Atletico Madrid’s Felipe,  the club has had a long-standing interest in Dawson, who was keen to move closer to his family in the Midlands in the summer.

Despite a transfer failing to materialize on September 1, the Wolves have returned to sign the 32-year-old.

Dawson joins Wolves for a £3.3m fee after weeks of speculation, which saw West Ham boss David Moyes critical of Julen Lopetegui for allegedly making his interest in the defender public earlier this month.

Former West Brom center-back Dawson has made 246 Premier League appearances.

Wolves, who are 17th in the Premier League, face a trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

Under new manager Julen Lopetegui the club has signed midfielder Mario Lemina, winger Pablo Sarabia and forward Matheus Cunha.

Dawson, whose last appearance for the Hammers was in an FA Cup win at Brentford on 7 January, was not registered in time to face City.

He initially joined West Ham on loan from Watford in October 2020 before turning that into a permanent move.

He made 87 appearances and scored five goals in all competitions for the Hammers, and started all six Europa League knockout round games last season as West Ham reached the semi-finals.

He impressed against a Sevilla side managed by Lopetegui when West Ham beat them in the last 16 of the competition.

Commenting on the signing, sporting director Matt Hobbs told the club’s official website: “In my first interview, I talked about players who know the league is important. Personalities are important. We lost a few leaders in the summer with John Ruddy, Conor Coady, and Romain Saiss.

“We’re bringing another leader into the group, which is always positive, but if you look at our center-backs, they’re all relatively young, not just in age, but also the number of games they’ve played in English league football, let alone the Premier League.

“The number of games Craig has played, he can be a foil for those guys on and off the pitch. He’s going to be a very good player for our squad and will be someone our young center halves will learn a lot from and will help develop those players.”

If reports are to be believed, Dawson, who had less than six months left on his contract, has moved to Wolves for a fee of £3.3m.