Wolves sold for £45m to Chinese group Fosun International

Wolves have been taken over for £45m by a Chinese group, Fosun International, the club has announced.

The Championship side have been up for sale since 2015 and Fosun is to pump up to £30m into the club over the next two years as part of the deal.

The investment group has links with the super-agent Jorge Mendes who represents José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo and has stakes in the travel agent Thomas Cook, among other interests.

Fosun will have a football board of four people with Jeff Shi, who led the negotiations on behalf of Fosun, becoming the club’s representative. Sky Sun will join him with two local businessmen John Bowater and John Gough remaining as non-executive board members.

“We are delighted to have completed the deal to become the new owners of such a famous and historic club as Wolves,” said Shi.

“Football is enjoying a huge growth in China and, of course, is England’s national sport. As part of our strategy, it makes perfect sense to buy a great football club.

“Our goal is crystal clear: we will do our very best to help take Wolves back to the Premier League as soon as possible and to stay there. We believe the club and the fans belong at the top of English football and getting there is our first and top priority.”

The chief executive Jez Moxey has been managing the club on a day-to-day basis but will leave in three months after overseeing the transition and Wolves are looking for his replacement.

The former owner Steve Morgan bought Wolves for £10 from Sir Jack Hayward in 2007 with the promise of investing £30m into the club.

He added: “It is the right time to be handing the baton on to someone else to take Wolves forward, and to that end I am delighted to have completed the transfer in ownership to Fosun International Group.

“Leaving the right legacy is hugely important to me and I am delighted that as part of my deal with Fosun they have made a commitment to invest between £20-£30m over the next two years into the club.”

The future of the manager Kenny Jackett, who is currently in Ireland with the squad, is now in doubt. The 54-year-old is understood to have told the team earlier this month that the takeover was going ahead and he had been given no assurances over his future.

Wolves finished last season 14th in the Championship, their second season back in the division after winning League One in 2014.