Bruno Lage addresses Hwang Hee-chan form amid Wolves backlash over £14m transfer

Bruno Lage has praised 'top professional' Hwang Hee-chan ahead of his move to Wolverhampton Wanderers becoming permanent in July.

Hwang joined Wolves on loan from RB Leipzig last August and the club exercised their option to make it permanent for £14million on his 26th birthday in January. The forward will officially become a Wolves player on July 1.

The South Korean's form dipped dramatically in the second half of the season and he only scored one goal in 16 appearances after the permanent transfer was announced. After scoring four goals in his first six Premier League outings, Hwang endured a run of one in his final 24 matches to complete his maiden campaign at Molineux.

Lage kept faith with Hwang, despite criticism from supporters, and opted to bring him off the bench against Liverpool on the final day when Pedro Neto suffered an early injury. In doing so, Lage overlooked Daniel Podence, Fabio Silva, Francisco Trincao and in-form Chiquinho.

Speaking on the eve of the Liverpool game, Lage said: "For Hwang, the way he came with the impact he gave us, it was very good. It was so easy for him to fit in the team. After that he had a big injury and stayed out for five or six games. Since then he has had good moments and bad moments.

“For us and Hwang the challenge is to be consistent like he was in the first half of the season when he was very good. He had some bad luck, if you remember when he returned he played Everton and needed to come out after 10 minutes with injury. These kinds of things make players lose a little bit of confidence and consistency in their game.”

Hwang started more games than Podence, Trincao and Neto, while he was regularly selected ahead of Adama Traore before his loan move to Barcelona in