Wolves’ pre-season trip to Spain in the summer of 2022 proved eventful for Yerson Mosquera.
There was the ‘Battle of Benidorm’, in which he, team-mate Daniel Podence and two Levante players were sent off as a training ground ‘friendly’ played in the grounds of Wolves’ plush hotel in the hills north of the popular seaside resort town descended into chaos and near-abandonment.
But for staff and team-mates, Mosquera’s most memorable moments of the trip came not in that ill-tempered encounter with La Liga opposition but in the players’ dining room, where his samba dancing proved a major hit.
That training camp showcased perfectly the personality broader Premier League audiences began to see at the weekend as Mosquera grabbed worldwide attention, among other things, during his long-awaited league debut for Wolves.
Since he first signed for the Molineux club in the summer of 2021, the Colombia international has been a big presence.
Other than his spells out on loan over the previous 18 months or so, Mosquera has filled the corridors of the Compton Park training ground with his loud voice, laughter, seemingly permanent smile and penchant for cutting a rug.
It has all made him a popular figure with colleagues and the fans, despite him having to wait until the opening game of this season to appear in the Premier League for the first time.
And when he travelled to Spain two summers ago in his first significant step up to the first-team ranks, he brought the house down when eschewing the traditional singing-performance initiation that players are obliged to perform on their first away trip and opted instead for an extended dance routine.
He has since been called upon to reprise his moves by Wolves’ media team, rarely with the need for much persuasion.
Yet there is another aspect to Mosquera’s personality that makes him stand out — he is a centre-back who plays and trains on the edge.
The red card for reacting to a late challenge with an attempted punch in what was supposed to be little more than a training game that day in Benidorm two years ago highlighted a player who is never far from losing his cool.
It is a trait that Wolves are well aware of. They knew what they were getting when head coach Gary O’Neil decided Saturday’s season-opening visit to Arsenal was the time to give Mosquera his chance.
And the competitive edge that led the South American to tangle with Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and then court controversy by dragging striker Gabriel Jesus out of the way of a Wolves free kick by placing a hand on his right buttock is, in the view of his Molineux bosses, an important part of his overall makeup.
So, while O’Neil will be in constant dialogue with Mosquera about ensuring his actions do not cross a line and disadvantage his team, there are no plans for a dressing-down over Saturday nor moves to curb his fiery streak too much.
Loan spells have already smoothed out some of the rougher edges in his approach, including some early over-confidence during a 2023 stint in MLS with FC Cincinnati, where he helped them to the semi-finals of the end-of-season play-offs that decide the title.
“He is an elite talent,” Pat Noonan, Cincinnati’s manager, said in May 2013. “And he also was very immature when he came in, way too comfortable in the first couple weeks where he’s talking (too much).
“We were like, ‘Hey, man, you’ve been here for a week. Calm down, get to know your team-mates. Let them respect you before you start complaining to Alvas Powell, the veteran, about something he’s done wrong, or they’ll eat you up’.
“I think he’s shown a lot of growth. He needs some tender loving care.”
Yerson Mosquera enjoyed successful spells in MLS and La Liga (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
That successful spell in the U.S. was followed by an equally promising period in Spain’s La Liga at Villarreal in the second half of last season. He made 16 appearances, scored two goals and helped his side to an eighth-place finish. Villarreal were keen to keep him, but Wolves’ plan was always to promote him to the first team for their 2024-25 season.
While the club expect him to pick up yellow cards due to his combative style, they are encouraged that Mosquera’s time in La Liga brought just four bookings and no controversies.
For Wolves, Saturday was the culmination of a three-year process to get Mosquera from talented but raw overseas signing to starting Premier League defender. He has become a potential flag-bearer for a loans department that has grown in recent years and is now headed by former Wigan Athletic defender Matt Jackson and Wolves’ one-time caretaker manager Steve Davis.
His first 18 months at Molineux brought a mixture of under-21s appearances, Carabao Cup outings and frustrating hamstring issues, before those two loans gave him a taste of first-team action.
With O’Neil keen for Wolves to evolve to a front-foot, pressing style of play in his second season in charge, Mosquera’s strengths — especially his ability to cover ground behind a high defensive line — could prove crucial.
“He was key to our success with the way he defends the box, his aerial duels and his recovery,” added Cincinnati’s Noonan last year. “He allowed us to have an aggressive approach with our back line because he’s elite in his recovery — he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever seen. And so I think that brings out his strengths as well.
“So hopefully he continues to mature and grow. He should be playing in a top-five league.”
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Getty Images)