Wolves have announced the signing of former Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore.The 31-year-old Burkina Faso captain joins the Championship club on a free transfer, six days after the transfer window closed, after leaving Sunderland at the end of his contract this summer.Wolves are the ninth club of Traore’s careerGettyTraore’s next chapterTraore made 12 Premier League appearances as Sunderland finished seventh last season to qualify for the Europa League.A versatile attacking player, Traore arrives at Wolves as they aim to mount a promotion push following relegation from the top flight last term.Now managed by Cesar Peixoto, Wolves sit ninth in the Championship table having won two and drawn two of their opening five games.Wolves are in action away to Sheffield United on Sunday, though that game may come too soon for Traore to make his debut. The club’s executive chairman Nathan Shi confirmed that Traore will need to get back up to speed.“He needs time to get fit because he’s been working alone, and he needs time to know our idea of the game, but he is another option to help us fight to get to the Premier League,” Shi said. “Like we saw on Sunday, the Championship is very tough, so we need two players in each position to manage the games.”Born in Burkina Faso, Traore spent time in the youth system of French club Auxerre before moving to Chelsea shortly after his 18th birthday.After a goal-laden loan spell with Dutch side Vitesse, he played 16 first-team games for the Blues, mostly under Guus Hiddink in the 2015/16 campaign, scoring four goals – three of which came in back-to-back appearances, all of them ending in 5-1 wins for Chelsea.Another fruitful loan stint in the Netherlands followed, this time with Ajax, before Traore left Stamford Bridge permanently to join Lyon in 2017.Traore scored two Premier League goals for ChelseaAFPAfter three seasons in Ligue 1, he returned to the Premier League to sign for Aston Villa, where he was a regular in 2020/21, netting seven times in 36 league outings.However, opportunities were harder to come by in subsequent campaigns and, after spending time on loan with Turkish outfit Istanbul Basaksehir, Traore departed Villa Park for Villarreal in 2023.A return to Ajax followed before he was snapped up by Sunderland last summer following their return to the top flight.Captain of his countryAt international level, Traore is one of Burkina Faso’s most-capped players and leading scorers, representing them 91 times and bagging 22 goals.Having made his senior international debut aged just 15 in 2011, he helped his country to third place at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.Traore’s is the cousin of Shakhtar Donetsk forward and fellow Burkina Faso international Lassina Traore.