When Bruno Lage signed on the dotted line and became the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, he knew he needed to do something about the club’s injury problems.
It was a major issue for Wolves last season with Nuno Santo having to make do with countless fitness issues.
Raul Jimenez suffered a nasty fractured skull last November while the likes of Daniel Podence and Marcal withstood several injuries.
Jonny suffered back to back ACL problems and then Pedro Neto was ruled out for an extended period of time after breaking his knee cap.
Those two players remain long term absentees but two more individuals have been added to the treatment table at Compton.
Speaking prior to Wolves’ clash with Southampton on Sunday, Lage confirmed the club had suffered two additional blows.
He commented: “Ait-Nouri will be out for seven days. Mosquera has a muscle injury, not in the same area."
Reporter Liam Keen then cleared up how long the latter might be out for, saying: “He (Lage) has given a timeline of 1-2 months for Mosquera. Expects it to be closer to 2 months.”
With Wolves’ defensive options extremely limited, this will be a gutting piece of news for the manager to receive.
Ait-Nouri will only miss the next week but it’s a shame that he’ll be absent for the clash this weekend after picking up an important assist against Tottenham in midweek.
Mosquera’s injury is more concerning, however. He signed in the summer as Wolves’ only centre-back recruit but his one appearance – the match with Spurs – ended in disaster as he went off on just nine minutes.
The central defender is a promising player but his ability to adapt and integrate himself into the surroundings at Molineux is being extremely hampered, especially as this is not his first fitness problem since arriving.
Wolves have continued to operate a three-man backline under Lage but the fewer options they have, the less he’ll be able to improve their system.
They tried signing Sven Botman and Duje Caleta-Car in the summer window but ultimately failed in their pursuits. Had one of those players joined, it’s unlikely that Mosquera’s injury would be so concerning.
Instead, Lage will be hoping that he doesn’t receive another injury to his defensive line.