Many fans were left feeling uneasy after Wolves failed to sign a new centre-back this summer – and those fears are now being realised.
On Saturday against Aston Villa, defender Yerson Mosquera suffered a knee injury with the Colombian leaving the pitch on a stretcher.
Gary O’Neil stated after the game that ‘it doesn’t look good’, and the suggestion is that he has done something potentially serious.
It is a hammer blow for Mosquera, who missed a lot of football when he suffered a serious hamstring injury shortly after signing from Atletico Nacional in the summer of 2021.
It’s also very bad news for Wolves, who were already short at centre-back.
Yerson Mosquera injury presents huge opportunity for Santiago Bueno
Currently, we don’t know the extent of the damage to Mosquera’s knee.
But the fact he needed to be stretchered off at Villa Park was very worrying, as was O’Neil’s update after the game.
It was suggested by Physio Scout on X that Mosquera’s injury could rule him out for nine months if it’s an ACL. If it’s MCL damage, the star could be out for around 2-10 weeks depending on the severity.
Fans are fearing the worst, and it is now a very concerning situation for Wolves.
Recently, it was claimed that Wolves were interested in Joel Matip, who is without a club after leaving Liverpool at the end of last season.
Matip is thought to have interest from a number of Premier League clubs at the moment, and is understood to be keen on staying in England.
But Wolves would not be able to register Matip due to already having a full squad. So it’s on the three other options to now step up.
And one man who the coming weeks could now be huge for is Santiago Bueno, who replaced Mosquera against Villa.
The Uruguay international looks like he will be the replacement for Mosquera, with Toti Gomes having struggled in a back four.
All the indications are that O’Neil is set on a back four, so Bueno would surely be the preferred option over Toti.
Bueno has shown some promising signs since he came to the club from Girona last summer for around £8.5 million. But for many, the jury is still out, with the 25-year-old lacking consistency at times.
Mosquera looks like he could be out for a while, so this is now a golden chance for Bueno to finally prove his worth in a Wolves shirt.
Bueno’s time has come for Wolves
This is surely the moment that Bueno’s minutes in a Wolves shirt pick up considerably.
With Mosquera looking set for a spell out, he is surely poised to come into the backline. We saw on Saturday that he was chosen ahead of Toti, indicating his position in the pecking order for the back four.
He’s had a lot of games on the bench since his arrival.
But Bueno’s time has now come, amid a really worrying situation for Wolves, who are already down to the bare bones at centre-back.
He must now step up and take responsibility, and show exactly why he was not allowed to go out on loan in the last window.