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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league 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 football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

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

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

in October 2020.

Club career

Early career

Raised in Nueva Colonia within the municipality of

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

in Colombia's

Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

, 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 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

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 Fútbol Club was a Colombian professional football team based in Barrancabermeja, Santander, that last played in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded in 1991 and played in the Categoría Primera B until 2012. They play ...

on 11 November.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 17 June 2021, Mosquera joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 29,042. They pl ...

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

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

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 the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

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

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) 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 capital ( ...

until the end of the 2023–24 season. On 17 August, Mosquera made his Premier League debut in the first match of the 2024–25 season against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. During the match, he was involved in two altercations where he pinned down Arsenal's

Kai Havertz Kai Lukas Havertz (born 11 June 1999) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for club Arsenal and the Germany national team. Having graduated from Bayer Leverkusen's youth academy in 2016, Havertz ...

by the throat, and grabbed the buttocks of

Gabriel Jesus Gabriel Fernando de Jesus (born 3 April 1997) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team. Jesus began his senior club career at Palmeiras, where he was voted Best Newcomer a ...

. The next week, at home against Chelsea, Mosquera was shown a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

after he took down

Moisés Caicedo Moisés Isaac Caicedo Corozo (born 2 November 2001) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea and the Ecuador national team. Early life Born in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, the youngest of 10 siblings, ...

in the 71st minute. A month later, on 21 September, he sustained an ACL injury during an away match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

, which would force him to miss the rest of the 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) 25th ...

, 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 The 2021 South American U-20 Championship was originally going be the 30th edition of the South American U-20 Championship (, ), the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONMEBOL for the men's under-20 national teams of ...

. On 12 October 2023, he made his international debut for Colombia in a 2–2 draw against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, coming on in the 90th minute for

Santiago Arias Santiago Arias Naranjo (born 13 January 1992) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Bahia and the Colombia national team. Club career La Equidad Arias was a youth product o ...

. On 10 September 2024, Mosquera scored his first international goal against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, which led to a 2–1 win for La Sele.

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 Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the Portugal national football team, Portugal nati ...

on the ball and Wesley Fofana out of possession, with long passing ability and physical attributes similar to fellow Colombian centre-back Yerry Mina and pace and acceleration akin to that of

Davinson Sánchez Davinson Sánchez Mina (born 12 June 1996) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray and the Colombia national football team, Colombia national team ...

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 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

: ''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mosquera goal.''

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 199 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosquera, Yerson 2001 births Living people 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Footballers from Apartadó 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 Premier League players Colombia men's youth international footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's 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