Exclusive interview: Yerson Mosquera on his Premier League chance, finding a home at Wolves and previous struggles

Among the starting XI – perhaps to some surprise – could be Yerson Mosquera.

The 23-year-old has never kicked a ball in the Premier League but is now expected to line-up at the Emirates on Saturday after emerging as one of two centre-back choices in pre-season.

But it was almost very different for the Colombian.

He spent the second half of last season on loan at Villarreal and in interviews over in Spain the defender said he wanted to join them permanently.

But Wolves and O’Neil were adamant that his future was back at Molineux and Mosquera has been welcomed back into the fold with open arms.

“I always feel loved,” Mosquera said in an exclusive pre-season interview with the Express & Star.

“If I have the chance to play here, I will do my best. I want to stay here, I want to help the team.

“It’s a really hard decision because I have a contract here and I didn’t know what would happen with my future.

“They liked me and wanted to buy me, but I didn’t have the decision. I have a contract here, I want to focus on being here.”

And was he ever close to leaving for Villarreal? Mosquera added: “They spoke with the club but I don’t know anything. My focus is on staying here.

“They (Wolves) always said to me ‘Yerson, we want to see you here’, when I was at Villarreal. They called me and told me they need me at Wolves and if I had the chance to play I wanted to stay at Wolves.

“It’s been really good, I’m enjoying it here. The group is really good, everyone is ready to play. It’s amazing for me. It’s been a good pre-season.”

O’Neil played a major part in Mosquera staying with Wolves this season, after insisting that the defender was a key part of his plans.

The head coach’s hands-on approach and man management has helped Mosquera settle and the towering defender has nothing but good things to say about the boss.

He said: “It’s really good. I like it because we train really hard, we have good tactics and everything is good.

“He is a good person. Everyone knows how open he is to speak with you and how good he is with the group.”

Now, three years since arriving at Wolves, Mosquera is set to be given his Premier League chance.

Throughout pre-season Mosquera has been partnered with Toti Gomes at the heart of Wolves’ defence in their new-look back four, leaving Craig Dawson and Santi Bueno as back-ups.

There is no guarantee that will be the chosen defence against Arsenal on Saturday – and O’Neil may even choose to change to a back five – but Mosquera is still expected to be handed a big opportunity.

“I feel good, I feel happy,” he said. “Everyone wants to play in the Premier League, it’s the best league in the world. I feel comfortable, I feel ready and now I have more experience to play.

“I think this season will be really good for me and really important for me to see my progress.

“Everyone wants to play and if I have the chance to play I will give everything 100 per cent and give my quality to the team. I just want to help everyone.”

To get to this point, Mosquera has gone through two important periods in his Wolves career.

Signed for £4.5million in June 2021, the Colombian suffered an injury in pre-season before eventually making his senior debut against Spurs in the Carabao Cup in late September that year. But he lasted just six minutes before pulling up with a serious hamstring injury.

It required surgery and the player – new to England – was on the sidelines for several months.

“When I did the injury it was the hardest situation in my life,” Mosquera said. “I was alone in England for five months with my injury. I was in another country, didn’t speak English very well. But I had the group who helped me with everything.

“I needed to work if I wanted to stay on the same level, I needed to focus to recover well and play again.

“After, I felt happy. You can see the result, everything is OK now, my family is OK, everyone here is happy and the club is perfect.”

In February 2023 Mosquera left for America, joining FC Cincinnati on loan, before joining Villarreal in January this year.

Both loan spells gave Mosquera regular football in which he impressed, returning to Wolves as a bigger and better footballer.

“It was a good experience,” he added. “I didn’t have the confidence and at Cincinnati and Villarreal I had a lot of chances to play and my confidence is higher now. I need to be ready for the Premier League, that’s football, you don’t know what happens next.

“It’s important to speak English because it’s good for the communication on the pitch.”

After a long journey with several twists and turns, Mosquera hopes his Premier League chance will end in success.

When asked whether he will start against Arsenal at the weekend the defender enjoyed a coy chuckle, with a wide smile. Instead, he is focused on making the best of the opportunity in front of him.

Mosquera can regularly be spotted laughing and smiling with his Wolves team-mates and the 23-year-old is ready for the next big step in his career and life.

“I enjoy it with everyone, they’re all good with me (in the Wolves dressing room),” he said.

“I need to put my energy into it because it’s important to stay happy if the result is positive or not.

“The more important thing in life is how to enjoy it.”