Wales midfielder Jordan James turned down multiple Premier League approaches this summer, choosing instead to join Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan from French club Rennes as they chase promotion from the Championship.

James also dismissed any suggestion that a move to Wrexham had been on the table in the most recent transfer window. "That ship sailed I think. It was on last year," he said, closing the door firmly on that particular link.

A Leicester education

The decision to pursue Championship football follows a productive loan spell at Leicester City last season, where James was named player of the year after scoring 11 goals in 34 appearances. Despite his personal form, Leicester suffered relegation to League One.

"Leicester is a club that I love dearly, they gave me the most confidence to go out and perform," James said. "Obviously it didn't go the way I wanted it to. Probably if we'd done a bit better I would have thought about staying, but obviously we got relegated so I had to look elsewhere and Wolves was the place straight away."

Why Wolves made sense

James was direct about why he chose Wolverhampton Wanderers over Premier League suitors. Having already experienced difficult seasons at Birmingham City and Leicester, he was unwilling to risk joining another struggling top-flight side.

"There were a lot of opportunities. I had a lot of offers on the table. I just didn't think it was right," he explained. "I didn't want to go to the Premier League and be in a losing team again. I've been in a losing team now with Birmingham and with Leicester, I want to win games."

Wolverhampton Wanderers hold an option to make the transfer permanent when the loan concludes next summer, and James is clear about his ambitions. "It's a big club, a club that's looking to get promoted and the place I want to be is the Premier League," he said. "I know that I'm good enough to be there."

Nations League duty calls

The former Birmingham City youngster is expected to start for Wales in their UEFA Nations League Group A4 opener against Portugal on Thursday at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. His competitive minutes for Wolves this season have been limited — his six Championship appearances have all come from the bench, with his only starts arriving in the EFL Cup.