Wolves’ first fears were realised earlier this week as Colombian international Mosquera was confirmed to have torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) following several scans.
The central defender was forced off on a stretcher late on during the 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday, while the score was still level at 1-1. Mosquera’s exit changed the game completely as Wolves capitulated defensively, so it’s a huge worry as to how the Old Gold will perform without him for the rest of the season.
Toti Gomes and Santiago Bueno are options to fill in for Mosquera alongside Craig Dawson but the former has had injury concerns of his own and Bueno has struggled to find form. New signing Bastien Meupiyou, meanwhile, arrived with an injury and is yet to get up to speed.
Squad depth in defence was a worry as it was and the problem has now escalated significantly following Mosquera’s injury. Gary O’Neil admitted recently he would’ve rather utilised the £21 million spent on Brazilian international André to improve the defence. That feeling will only have strengthened now.
There have been suggestions for Wolves to go out and find a new defender on the free agents’ market, but there’s a big limitation. Wanderers registered a 24-man squad with one spot left but that can only be filled by a homegrown player to fulfil the Premier League’s quota.
In layman’s terms, any addition must therefore be from a British nation or trained by a British club for three years before their 21st birthday. The names currently available are limited, to say the very least.
HITC Football reports Wolves, having looked at what’s out there, have listed former Newcastle United man Paul Dummett and ex-Crystal Palace defender James Tomkins as potential options. Both are in the twilight years of their careers and failed to find a new club in the summer, so signing either would indicate a little desperation.
There’s without doubt Premier League experience to delve into there, though, and a new face surely wouldn’t make the bleak situation any worse. It all depends, supposedly, on the wage demands and the desire from either player to make the move to Molineux.
Dummett, 32, left Newcastle upon the expiry of his contract in June. The left-back, who is also comfortable at centre-half, played 213 times for the Magpies after breaking through the academy in 2012. Of those appearances, 151 were in the Premier League.
Tomkins, meanwhile, departed Palace in June after featuring on 136 occasions for the Eagles. The 35-year-old, who was a regular for West Ham United earlier in his career, boasts 289 Premier League appearances. He only featured in 26 English top-tier games in the last four seasons combined, however.
