Mario Lemina has reportedly impressed behind the scenes at Wolves, as well as on the pitch.
The midfielder arrived at Molineux as the club’s second January signing.
And the star has been absolutely superb for Wanderers.
So far he has made eight appearances for the club. And he has caught the eye most of the time he has played.
He was sent off in ridiculous fashion against Southampton and was blameless for his dismissal. He was then forced to miss the game with Bournemouth and Wolves really suffered in that game without him, losing 1-0.
Lemina didn’t have the best of outings against Newcastle United on Sunday.
But for the most part, he has excelled for Wolves and gives the midfield some much needed steel.
And it isn’t just on the pitch that Lemina has been making an impact.
Journalist Liam Keen has been speaking about the enforcer on the Express & Star’s latest podcast, and mentioned him as a potential next captain at Molineux for the leadership and character he has apparently shown behind the scenes.
He said of the 29-year-old: “I’ve spoke to a lot more people around the club and got a feel for the impact of some of these signings. Lemina has had a really big impact actually.
“Lemina is a big one. Off the pitch, I think there is a bit more maturity to him now. You hadn’t really had a lot of great references of him as a person from his Southampton days. Immaturity, maybe a bit of cockiness crept in, obviously he was at Juventus before that.
“But I’ve heard a lot of good things genuinely. He’s really liked around the squad. He’s loud, big in the dressing room, big character, he’s grown up a bit.”
The discussion centered around potential next captains for Wolves, with Ruben Neves potentially leaving this summer.
Of course, Conor Coady is technically still club captain at Wolves.
But it’s highly likely he’ll turn his loan move to Everton permanent, as opposed to returning to Molineux to play under Julen Lopetegui.
Very encouraging words from Liam Keen about Mario Lemina with star impressing off the pitch as well as on it for Wolves
This is really good to hear about Lemina, who has proved an absolute snip at £10 million.
Lemina has added steel and tenacity to Wolves’ midfield.
But it looks like he’s also already become a big part of the dressing room.
Wolves lost a lot of experienced players and characters last summer. So it was important to rectify this in January.
The club certainly did this bringing in the likes of Lemina, Craig Dawson, Dan Bentley and Pablo Sarabia.
It is very interesting to hear Keen tout Lemina as a potential next captain. He must seriously have impressed in terms of his leadership qualities.