Wolves have sent a talented international youngster out on loan for the 2024/25 campaign after limited Old Gold appearances.
Despite the transfer window closing in August, Wolves are still overseeing departures from their squad.
Daniel Podence left Wolves earlier this month to move to Saudi Arabia after months of speculation resulted in a permanent resolution.
Now, despite a poor start to the Premier League season for the Old Gold, Gary O’Neil has opted to let youngster Dexter Lembikisa depart the club as he seeks regular first-team football.
Wolves starlet Dexter Lembikisa joins Swiss outfit Yverdon Sport on loan
Lembikisa is seen as a big upcoming talent at Wolves. The right-back made his Old Gold debut in the 2022/23 campaign and made a total of four appearances.
After a failed loan spell at Rotherham United in the Championship at the end of 2023, he joined Hearts in January 2024 until the end of the season.
Here, he found far more success and helped the Jambos finish third in the Scottish Premiership after appearing 18 times in all competitions.
Lembikisa has also become an international for Jamaica. The right-back has earned 20 caps to date and has netted once.
For the 2024/25 campaign, his future was less clear. The 20-year-old did not leave the club in the summer transfer window and remained with the squad.
However, the youngster has now secured his third loan move away from the Old Gold as he joined Swiss side Yverdon Sport on loan until the end of the season.
Professional football development officer, Matt Jackson believes the move will be a good one for Lembikisa.
He said: He explained: “This is going to be a different type of loan for Dexter from what he experienced last year with Rotherham and Hearts, and I’m really pleased that he’s jumped at this opportunity to expand his own horizons, in a football sense and in a living sense as well.
“The Swiss league is more technical than what he’s been used to, but he showed he can play in the Championship with that frenetic pace and intensity they have, the same with the Scottish Premiership.
“But now he’s in the situation where he’s going to a slightly more technical league where it will be slower paced for him, but he will see a variation of players up against him.
“He’s obviously got great international experience now as well, and he’ll continue to add to that and this just becomes another part of his football development.
“We like our boys to have as many opportunities as possible and the fact that he’s so keen to go out there and try something different shows who he is as a character and what we think of him.”
Dexter Lembikisa needs to take inspiration from Toti Gomes
Regular first-team football was just not possible for Lembikisa this campaign at Wolves.
The right-back was behind the likes of Nelson Semedo, Matt Doherty and Pedro Lima in the pecking order, making any appearances extremely unlikely.
What the Jamaican international needs at his age is regular football at a decent level, and hopefully, this can happen over the course of the season.
If the youngster continues to improve, a place in the first team could well be waiting for him when he returns.
Toti Gomes is now a regular in the Wolves squad thanks to his successful loan spell in the Swiss league.
Lembikisa needs to take inspiration from this and look to push himself to new heights over the next year.