Wolverhampton Wanderers’ U23 manager James Collins has claimed Christian Marques ‘looks more of a man now’ compared to eight or nine weeks ago.
The 18-year-old was in action yesterday against Middlesbrough, having missed the last six matches.
Marques played 55 minutes in the 1-1 draw in the PL2 Division 2 game, and made a good impression at Heritage Park.
Collins was pleased with his side’s character to some from behind, and put in a good word for Marques on his return to the starting XI.
He said (Wolves official): “Christian looks like he’s grown physically; the sports science and medical team have done terrific work with him, he looks more of a ‘man’ now than he was eight or nine weeks ago.
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“We never doubt his ability on the ball, but he needed to develop physically and the injury and time off has allowed him to do that and he looks great.”
Marques joined Wolves in the summer of 2018 from Grasshoppers.
The youngster has a lot of potential, and has actually made the bench a couple of times for the first-team – firstly against Manchester United back in December and then against Liverpool earlier this month.
Marques – who cites Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos as his favourite player – has previously played for Dubendorf and Grasshoppers (Wolves official).
Encouraging assessment from Collins
That Marques is growing physically is good to hear.
Quite often, young players can struggle in the Premier League because of the physical nature of the competition.
So to hear centre-back Marques is improving physically is a positive.
Making the first-team bench for games against Manchester United and Liverpool would suggest the youngster has a lot talent – hopefully he can continue to work hard and then maybe those first minutes under Nuno won’t be too far away.