This article is part of Football FanCast's In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies...

In the past week, much of the talk at Molineux has been surrounding potential player departures as first-team stars Willy Boly and Ruben Neves have been linked to moves to Arsenal and Real Madrid, respectively, while young prospect Chem Campbell has garnered interest from Germany if reports are to be believed.

The 16-year-old has caught the eye of Wolves boss Nuno Santo in the past after he was invited to train with the first-team during the summer, but he wasn't the only youngster to do so as Christian Marques also did too - he even went one better by travelling on their pre-season tour of China.

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Although he didn't feature as the west Midlands club picked up the Premier League Asia Trophy, he has had such an impression in the youth ranks that he was able to bypass the U18s straight into the U23 squad this campaign.

His academy manager Scott Sellars has given a glowing review on him in recent times, by saying: "He is an excellent communicator, good technically and is a great passer of the ball.

"We see him in the mould of a Conor Coady, playing that central position, and we’re really pleased with how he’s developed in his time here."

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Which is only reinforcing his previous incumbent's words, as former U23 coach Rob Edwards said: "He works really hard, he’s got a great attitude and he’s got real quality as well.

"He’s played these last few games and done fantastically well for us. We’ve got high hopes for him."

Marques' qualities are only emphasised when taking a look at his international exploits, where he captains the Switzerland U17 squad, so it's no surprise to see him draw comparisons to Wolves' current captain Coady.

If he stays on track, he could well transform into the long-term leader of this football club. These latest comments certainly would suggest it is possible, even if it is a distant dream at the moment.

The 16-year-old also featured in the U23s' EFL Trophy match with Morecambe, where he came up against several players who have been playing in the men's game for a lot longer than he has.

Meanwhile, in Premier League 2, he's having to battle players some five years his senior.

Marques has so much potential as displayed with his rapid rise through the Wolves ranks. There's no reason why he can't become an integral figure at the heart of Nuno's defence sometime down the line.