Yerson Mosquera Valdelamar (born 2 May 2001) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and the Colombia national team. Mosquera made his breakthrough at

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

, where he marked his professional debut against River Plate in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

in October 2020.

Club career

Raised in Nueva Colonia within the municipality of

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

in Colombia's

Antioquia Department ) , anthem = Himno de Antioquia , image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Antioquia shown in red , image_ma ...

, Mosquera began his journey in football at the Fundación Elkin Murillo Amor (later renamed for Nayo Murillo after being taken over by Jhon Jairo Murillo) founded by his uncle Elkin Murillo, before joining Urabá Junior and later returning to his uncle's amateur club, Filandia Fútbol Club. Although now a defender, he was deployed as both a forward and winger as a young child, playing as a defensive midfielder at the age of 11 before moving to centre-back. He joined the youth setup of

in 2018, having been identified by a club scout during the 2018 Torneo de las Américas in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

while playing for Filandia, and after successes with youth teams in 2018 and 2019, made his debut for the first team in the January 2020 edition of the Florida Cup. Mosquera made his professional debut for the club in October, where despite being sent off in a

game against River Plate, his impressive performance was rewarded with his continued integration in Nacional's first-team squad in the following months, and he scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 away win against

Alianza Petrolera Alianza Petrolera is a Colombian professional football team based in Barrancabermeja, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded in 1991 and played in the Categoría Primera B until 2012. They play their home games at ...

on 11 November. On 17 June 2021, Mosquera joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

on a five-year deal, having been on the verge of signing for

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

. After sustaining an injury in pre season, Mosquera would make his debut and start for Wolves in third round

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. However, only nine minutes into that game, Mosquera picked up a hamstring injury and was subbed off. He underwent sugery, being sidelined until January 2022. On 2 February 2023, Mosquera joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

on loan until 30 June with an option to extend until the end of the year. On 25 November, Mosquera scored a stoppage time winner in the Eastern Conference semi-finals against

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. On 23 January 2024, Wolverhampton Wanderers sent Mosquera on loan to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

until the end of the 2023–24 season.

International career

Mosquera is a Colombian youth international was called up to train with the senior squad in February 2021. He was called up to play with the Colombian under-18 team in the 2019

SBS Cup The SBS Cup is an association football tournament held annually in the Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It began in 1977 as several friendly matches between South Korean and Japanese high schools to celebrate Shizuoka Broadcasting System's (SBS) 25 ...

, and was a starter in two of three matches during a championship-winning run. He earned his first call-up to the under-20s in October 2019, and having scored one goal in two appearances with the under-20s in December 2020, is also expected to be called up for the 2021 South American U-20 Championship.

Style of play

Mosquera is considered a strong, quick defender, as well as a "complete" centre-back endowed with great aerial ability, which allows him to win the vast majority of his defensive duels. He is highly involved in most of his team's defensive actions, and is comparable to

Rúben Dias Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias (; born 14 May 1997) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City and the Portugal national team. Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is know ...

on the ball and Wesley Fofana out of possession, with long passing ability and physical attributes similar to fellow Colombian centre-back

Yerry Mina Yerry Fernando Mina González (born 23 September 1994) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Everton and the Colombia national team. He shares the record for most goals in a single World Cup by a defender, ...

and pace and acceleration akin to that of

Davinson Sánchez Davinson Sánchez Mina (born 12 June 1996) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Tottenham Hotspur and the Colombia national team. Despite initially coming through América de Cali's youth academy, Sánc ...

Personal life

Mosquera is the nephew of former Colombia national team striker Elkin Murillo, whose club he played for as a child. Nicknamed "Ye" as a child and at Urabá, and "Yerri" at Atlético Nacional, Mosquera is one of ten siblings in his family (including a foster brother). His father, Jesús Adán Mosquera, is a banana plantation worker, while his maternal great uncle

Agustín Julio Agustín Julio Castro (born 25 October 1974) is a Colombian Association football former player, who played as a goalkeeper. International career Julio used to be the number one choice goalkeeper for the Colombia national football team. He had ...

was a Colombia national team goalkeeper. Two of his cousins, Daniel Valdelamar and Gustavo Cañizalez, also had short-lived careers within the Colombian top-flight.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

FC Cincinnati *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosquera, Yerson 2001 births Living people 21st-century Colombian people People from Apartadó Footballers from Antioquia Department Colombian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Atlético Nacional footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players FC Cincinnati players Villarreal CF players Categoría Primera A players Major League Soccer players La Liga players Colombia men's international footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's youth international footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Spain