The Wolves Academy product has been integrated into the first-team group this season having already produced impressive showings in the Premier League, as Campbell looks to make his mark on the top-flight.
Now in his sixth year on the club’s books, the teenager showed very early promise having moved across the West Midlands from Birmingham City and was quickly playing up the age groups, with the academy providing the attacker with the challenge his young talent required.
The 19-year-old’s ability caught the eye of former head coach Nuno Espirito Santo back in 2019, with the Portuguese handing Campbell his senior debut in the Carabao Cup fixture at Aston Villa, in which the Welsh youth international became Wolves’ second youngest competitive starter in history, overtaking a record set by fellow academy graduate Morgan Gibbs-White.
Since then, Campbell has been a regular in the under-18 and under-23 sides under Wolves’ current interim first-team management team of Steve Davis and James Collins, and was top scorer under Collins last season as the under-23s earned promotion back into Premier League 2 Division 1.
A permanent promotion into the first-team arrived last month having spent several years as part of the group of promising young players who would train regularly with the senior side, and that promotion was just reward for the winger’s four appearances in the Premier League this season, which have seen him try everything possible to make an impact from the bench.
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With Campbell’s long-term future secured at Molineux, Wolves technical director Scott Sellars hopes the youngster can continue to develop and repeat the performances he produced and the goals he scored at youth level in the Premier League.
“We are obviously delighted with Chem’s progress over the last few years, especially the form he has shown with the under-23s,” Sellars said. “He has now progressed to the first-team squad having been a player who would regularly train with them. He’s also had experience coming on in a difficult period, but has shown a lot of quality and a lot of character in his appearances with the first-team already.
“We want him to keep doing what he’s doing, keep believing in himself and get more experiences of playing, as that will give him even more confidence and belief. But he has certainly shown what he can do at youth level, so now we would like him to score the goals and create the chances that he has for the 23s at first-team level. That’s got to be his target.”
Campbell is the latest in a line of Wolves Academy starlets who have earned a permanent position in the first-team squad, and with fellow youth player Joe Hodge making his Premier League debut away at Chelsea last weekend, Sellars is proud of the role the academy is playing in producing talent who can make the transition into the Premier League.
He added: “We’ve been really pleased with the academy’s development over the last few years and certainly the number of players coming through to not only be part of the first-team squad, but also make their debut in the Premier League.
“We saw that with Joe on Saturday afternoon at Chelsea, although he has not been with us a long time, he’s already made a good impression.
“It’s been great for us to see our own young players come on and take these opportunities. You’re never quite sure until they go on the pitch if they are going to be able to handle the pressure, but Chem has got a really strong personality and character to go on and deal with that pressure.”
