Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Bastien Meupiyou has finally made his first appearance for the Premier League club.
Throughout the summer transfer window, supporters were craving the arrival of a new centre-back on the back of Max Kilman being sold to West Ham United for £40m.
Instead, the Wolves hierarchy decided that returning loanee Yerson Mosquera was a suitable like-for-like replacement for the club captain.
Furthermore, the West Midlands outfit instead opted to invest in youth, committing to a deal in the region of €5m to sign Meupiyou from Nantes.
Meupiyou arrived at Molineux with just nine minutes of Ligue 1 football under his belt, with the teenager being sent off on his debut against Marseille back in September 2023.
He would then suffer a serious knee injury that would keep him out of the first-team picture for the remainder of the season, yet there have been high hopes for his progress since signing on the dotted line at Wolves.
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A long-awaited Under-21s outing
However, Meupiyou had not been seen in a senior or youth-team shirt during the first three months of his stay until he made an appearance for the Under-21s against Huddersfield Town in the Premier League Cup on Monday night.
The France Under-18 international came through the opening 45 minutes at the John Smith's Stadium before being withdrawn at half time.
Barring any further fitness issues, Wolves will hope that Meupiyou can improve his sharpness over the coming weeks, with there being five more Under-21s fixtures before the end of the calendar year.
Wolves Under-21s are next in action on Saturday when they play host to Leicester City in Premier League 2.
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Major boost for O'Neil
Although Wolves recorded a 4-1 victory over Fulham on Saturday afternoon, Gary O'Neil only had one fit centre-back at his disposal in Toti Gomes.
Mosquera is sidelined for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, while Santiago Bueno and Craig Dawson were absent through a minor issue and illness respectively.
Both players are expected to be available for Saturday's Premier League fixture at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, yet O'Neil will be keen to add Meupiyou to his senior squad as soon as possible.
There are still seven top-flight games on the schedule before the start of the January transfer window, when Wolves will look to sign a experienced fresh face for the middle of their backline.
Darren Plant
