Mosquera: “MLS helped me to understand the game again”

The Wolves centre-back recalled his time at Cincinnati and Villarreal and Colombia’s performance at the recent Copa América.

Fernando PetrocellifpetrocelliAndy HallUpdate: Jul 26th, 2024 17:00 EDT0

X / Wolverhampton

Yerson Mosquera is looking forward to making his Premier League debut. The Colombian centre-back returned to Wolves after a year on loan at Cincinnati and spent the first half of 2024 in Spain with Villarreal. Now he’s back in the midlands with the goal of establishing himself at the club that bet on him in mid-2021..

Those experiences in MLS and LaLiga helped the 23-year-old defender grow to the point of being considered by Néstor Lorenzo for Colombia’s national team, although he was left out of the final list for the recent Copa América. Now Mosquera is back in the United States, where Wolverhampton is advancing its preseason work, and there he was grateful for his time in Cincinnati, key to returning to and succeed in Europe.

¡CABEZAZO DE YERSON MOSQUERA 🇨🇴(2001)!pic.twitter.com/BkKUecMaIO

— Football Report (@FootballReprt) April 30, 2023

Yerson Mosquera sings the praises of MLS

“Major League Soccer is a very good league,” he told the media on Friday. “I said that from the beginning. It is physically demanding and helps you grow. It helped me regain the confidence that I had lost a long time ago. MLS helped me understand the game again. I am very grateful for the opportunity to return here, where I showed that I had the qualities to make a step up in my career. I follow MLS, and Cincinnati. I have many acquaintances in various clubs so I always try to keep an eye on them and support them, but when they face each other it is up to me to decide (laughs)”.

Yerson only missed one game during his time at Villarreal. In LaLiga, he made made 16 appearances – all but two in the starting XI and also featured in the Europa League, playing both legs of the Last 16 tie against Olympique Marseille. “It was an excellent season. I felt very good at Villarreal,” he added. “I have a lot of appreciation for the club. I had people who supported me there at all times. I’d give it a 10/10.”

When asked to compare LaLiga and the Premier League, he said, “They are two totally different leagues. The Spanish league is very tactical, you pass the ball around, you have to keep possession. The Premier League is totally different, it demands more physically, tactically plays a part as well, but it is based more on physical input. It is difficult, (the Premier League) is a league that requires you to make quick and important decisions.”

🚨 Principio de acuerdo entre Wolverhampton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 y Villarreal 🇪🇸 para el préstamo por seis meses del colombiano Yerson Mosquera. Cincinatti 🇺🇸 fue su último equipo y la cesión venció en diciembre. pic.twitter.com/jTa1bAEnXl

— Julián Capera (@JulianCaperaB) January 20, 2024

Happy with the preseason with Wolves

Colombia’s Copa América: “I’ve always said that I really like Miami. Each of my teammates felt like we could have been champions. The only thing I feel is admiration and gratitude for the joy they gave us, regardless of whether I was there or not. There’s a good group, it’s a family and we’re moving forward.”

The pride of wearing the yellow jersey: “Every Colombian player wants to wear the national team jersey, it will always be a pride to wear those colors. Every time I have had the opportunity to go, I have tried to give 100% and not give anything away on the field. Let’s hope that this season is full of blessings so that I can go to the national team.”