Once upon a time, Jonny Castro Otto was one of Wolves’ most consistent performers.
The Spaniard joined the club on an initial loan basis from Atletico Madrid. But the club quickly moved to turn it permanent for around £15 million (Express & Star) after he’d impressed.
Jonny became a firm favourite at Molineux.
Other players would come into great form, and then go through rough patches.
But Jonny was always a player that would consistently deliver 7/10 performances at the least. He was a bit like Cesar Azpilicueta of a few seasons ago for Chelsea.
Jonny would suffer an ACL injury in August 2020 in the Europa League clash with Olympiacos. That put him on the sidelines for around six months.
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Jonny returned for Wolves and had a short stint in the team before unfortunately suffering a second ACL injury in the same knee in a training session.
He was out for another 10 months with that one.
When he returned to action again, Jonny did actually put in some good performances for Wolves. Especially when Nelson Semedo was out with a hamstring injury.
But it seems now as though his injury problems of the past might be catching up with him.
This season, Jonny has struggled for Wolves.
Many players in the squad have, but it is quite noticeable with Jonny considering how consistent he normally is.
The 28-year-old has played mostly on the right, but has still had a few outings on his preferred left side.
But sadly, the level has not been particularly great, and against Leicester City yesterday he had a torrid time up against Harvey Barnes.
He picked up a yellow card inside the first 10 minutes, which meant he then couldn’t get too close to his opponent for the rest of the game.
He appeared sluggish and cumbersome, and a world away from the kind of level he was showing in his early days at Wolves.
And sadly, good performances from him this season have been few and far between.
Jonny Castro Otto seems to be on the decline at Wolves, and Hugo Bueno emergence won’t help his cause
Although he’s another option to Nelson Semedo on the right, Jonny does prefer to operate on the left. He was so good there before his first knee injury.
But of course, Wolves now have another option for that position, with youngster Hugo Bueno having recently made his first-team debut.
Jonny’s fellow countryman has given a great account of himself in the last couple of weeks, and appears to be a genuine option to play on the left now.
That’s not good news for Jonny, with Rayan Ait-Nouri also competing for minutes.
So it could be that most of Jonny’s chances will now come on the right side, where he isn’t as comfortable.
But while he is struggling like he is, even minutes there may be hard to come by.
It remains to be seen if the star can turn things around. But his form has undoubtedly been a worry, and he has a lot to prove in the coming months.