Wolverhampton Wanderers confirmed on Wednesday that Christian Marques had signed his first professional contract and supporters were delighted with the news. The 17-year-old is captaining the U23s after developing quickly in the U18s and has also trained with the first-team on multiple occasions.
He joined Wolves from Grasshopper Zurich in March 2019 and has gone on to make 12 appearances for the U18s and 10 appearances for the U23s. Marques was playing for the U18s at the start of the season and is now a regular alongside Owen Otasowie and Raphaël Nya after Dion Sanderson joined Cardiff City on loan.
Marques is highly-rated. He’s the youngest player to ever skipper the reserves – wearing the armband against Manchester City in September and Tottenham in March – and has already made a positive impression on Nuno Espirito Santo.
Where will Wolverhampton Wanderers finish in the Premier League?
1st - 4th
5th - 10th
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The Swiss centre-back played a part in Wolves’ pre-season preparations in China last summer, so it wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that he and Sanderson could be in the first-team for next season.
Marques is unlikely to get regular playing time over Conor Coady, Willy Boly, Max Kilman, Leander Dendoncker and Romain Saiss, but the 17-year-old could get opportunities in cup competitions while playing U23 football to maintain his development and match fitness.
Nuno isn’t afraid to use young talent, having given 4323 minutes to Luke Cundle (aged 17), Chem Campbell (17), Terry Taylor (18), Taylor Perry (18), Otasowie (18), Ruben Vinagre (20), Morgan Gibbs-White (20), Pedro Neto (20), Meritan Shabani (20), Sanderson (20), Bruno Jordao (21), Oskar Buur (21) and Benny Ashley-Seal (21) combined this season, so Marques will get his chance if he continues to apply himself and heed his coaches’ advice.
