Mario Lemina has been named as the new Wolves captain for the 2024/25 campaign and head coach Gary O’Neil has explained why.
One of the biggest questions of Wolves’ pre-season has finally been answered. After Max Kilman departed for West Ham, the Molineux side have been searching for their fourth captain in as many seasons.
While any player in the Wolves squad could have been given the armband, realistically there were only a few serious candidates for the role.
Craig Dawson and Lemina were believed to be the main two players and O’Neil has opted to go for the latter for the new season.
Mario Lemina was the ‘standout choice’ to be the new Wolves captain
Since Lemina joined Wolves in January 2023, he has become one of the standout players at the club.
In the last campaign, the midfielder was at the centre-point for every major moment of the season and created plenty of unforgettable moments.
Now, after being confirmed as the new Wolves captain, O’Neil believes that Lemina was the standout choice for the role after already being seen as a huge leader in the squad.
O’Neil said: “Mario was a standout choice for me. We have some real good leaders in the group, and I’ll definitely lean on all of them throughout the season, but I think for Mario it’s really good timing for him. He has big respect from the players, around all the different groups, and drives standards.
“We had a little chat to check his thinking and he was really pleased and excited, and he’s done it really well since he’s taken over the last few weeks. I thought it would help him make the next step from being an established player to a leader, and the early signs have been really positive – he’s been excellent so far.
“He’s very good at portraying the messages that we want and what the group needs. I’m excited to see what we can do, what Mario can do, and how the players can perform this year with Mario as their captain.
“He’ll help us firstly as staff, he’ll take care of a lot of stuff within the group without it coming to us, and I think I can help him with his next step. Hopefully, he can improve his performance levels again because he knows he’s hugely respected and he’s being looked at as a leader all the time. It’s really exciting and he’s made a really good start.”
Mario Lemina was the best choice to become the Wolves captain
O’Neil has picked the best man possible to have the Wolves armband. Lemina is now a fan favourite at Molineux and has become undroppable in the side.
This combined with his experience playing at top clubs such as Juventus and Marseille made him easily the standout.
Dawson was arguably too old to get the armband as it is unclear how long he can continue playing at the top level. In comparison, Lemina is now in his prime, being only 30 years old, he could easily be in the Wolves first team for another five years.
Hopefully, Lemina will remain as the captain for the foreseeable future and put an end to the constant swapping of armbands at Molineux.