Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera is coming to the end of a highly successful loan spell with MLS outfit FC Cincinnati – and the youngster could next be heading to the Championship.
Mosquera joined the club back in January, after Wolves had signed Craig Dawson from West Ham United for a reported £3.3 million.
Wolves had actually wanted to send Mosquera out ahead of the 2022/23 season and were targeting Dawson ahead of that season. But they couldn’t sign him because West Ham couldn’t sign a replacement.
Mosquera stuck around for the first half of the season, before leaving in January.
The idea of the loan to Cincinnati was for Mosquera to get regular minutes, having seen his first season at Wolves ruined by a serious hamstring injury.
Wolves also wanted Mosquera to improve his English.
The loan move could not have gone better for Mosquera, who is the subject of a new piece from The Athletic…
Yerson Mosquera set for Championship loan after thriving at FC Cincinnati
Mosquera has enjoyed a brilliant past 10 months out in the States.
The 22-year-old has clocked up 33 appearances and chipped in with a couple of goals and assists. He’s really impressed at the back and has won 5.7 ‘true tackles’ per 1000 opposition touches. Only four centre-backs in the MLS have a higher value than that.
Wolves’ pathways manager Steve David flew out to see Mosquera recently to see how he was getting on, and he was delighted with the youngster’s progress, branding the stint ‘outstanding’. Davis also suggested that Mosquera had indeed improved his English, just as Wolves wanted him to.
It is stated by Cincinnati’s head coach Pat Noonan that Mosquera may well be in the running for defender of the year. The 43-year-old is also quoted as saying that Mosquera is ‘an elite talent’.
Interestingly, there is word from The Athletic on what could be next for Wolves’ £4.5 million signing.
Apparently, it is ‘likely’ that Wolves will now look into sending the star to a Championship club, with Noonan having already cast major doubt on Cincinnati re-signing him in some capacity.
Championship the perfect next test for Mosquera
Wolves officials will be thrilled about how Mosquera’s loan move in the States has gone.
The main thing was for him to just play regularly after he was pretty much robbed of a first season at Wolves by injury.
He’s done that, and the logical next step now is for Mosquera to ply his trade in the Championship, with Wolves seeing the Colombia international as a future first-teamer.
He needs to get used to the rigours of the English game and the Championship is the perfect next step for him. The division has been of great benefit to Wolves in recent years, with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Matija Sarkic, Luke Cundle, Ryan Giles and Ki-Jana Hoever all faring well.