WOLVES may just have completed one of the smartest pieces of business of this transfer window by taking young defender Jesus Vallejo on loan from Real Madrid for the new season.
Vallejo, 22, has everything to become a top centre-back – he has just captained Spain's Under-21s to a European Championships trophy, and is a tall, strong, fast and intelligent defender.
The only concern, and the reason Madrid were prepared to loan him out for a third time this summer, is his injury record. Regular muscle issues mean the €5 million signing from hometown club Real Zaragoza in 2015 has never managed a regular run of games over recent seasons.
The last time Vallejo went out on loan – during 2016/17 at Eintracht Frankfurt – he settled quickly and became one of the Bundesliga’s top young defenders. Then Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac called his performances “scandalously good”, and the now Bayern Munich helmer tried and failed to sign the then teenager permanently, despite a thigh problem which cut his spell in Germany short.
Madrid had such high hopes that the following summer they gave Vallejo a high profile on-pitch presentation at the Bernabeu, despite him not being really a ‘new’ signing, and he filled a squad place previously held by departing veteran Pepe. The idea was that he would form part of a new young core of the team, along with fellow promising Spanish-born youngsters Marcos Llorente, Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, Borja Mayoral and Theo Hernandez.
Frustratingly regular fitness problems stopped that happening though. His most high-profile appearance in 2017/18 came when he was clearly below 100% match fitness as Juventus almost embarrassed Madrid by overturning a three goal deficit in a Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Bernabeu.
Vallejo himself remained confident that he could come through these problems and kept showing the maturity which had seen him wear the captain’s armband of first club Zaragoza aged just 18. He also continued studies in sports science off the pitch, and regularly communicated his desire and belief that he would succeed at the Bernabeu.
2018/19 did not go much better, under either Julen Lopetegui or Santi Solari, with his only 90 minutes during the first six months of the season coming in the humiliating 0-3 UCL group defeat at home to CSKA Moscow. But there was never even a hint of complaint, either publicly or privately.
Vallejo finally got a run of games after Zinedine Zidane had returned on the bench. He was one of the few players to take the chance to impress during that end of season stretch, trying almost too hard at times, as those around him slackened off. He was man of the match in a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao, when he impressively handled the Basques' pacy and powerful young striker Inaki Williams.
BET ON LEICESTER VS WOLVES
But by that stage Madrid had already agreed to spend €50 million on young Brazilian defender Eder Militao from Porto. When Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane decided to stay at the Bernabeu, it was obvious that Vallejo needed to look elsewhere for regular minutes.
After completing the 90 minutes in four of the five games as Spain won the U-21 Euros in Italy in June, and being named in UEFA’s official team of the tournament, he had a look at his options. His camp say they had offers from “Champions League level” teams in La Liga, the Premier League and Bundesliga, but chose Wolves partly because of the club’s history and tradition. Nuno Espirito Santo’s modern approach, including a high defensive line and playing out from the back, should also suit his mix of physical and technical gifts.
Some nice touches from the new boy @JesusVallejo on his first day
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 30, 2019
Despite the difficulty for young players to break into Madrid’s starting XI, those around Vallejo maintain that he remains confident he can eventually become a pillar of the team. He has also extended his Los Blancos contract, and Wolves have no option for a permanent purchase next summer.
The biggest challenge now for Vallejo is to remain fit and finally complete a senior season where he plays 30 plus first team games. Wolves’ extra Europa League commitments should help with that, and if he is playing regularly then a Spain senior squad call up looks likely. Given La Roja’s lack of cover at centre-back, he could even be starting alongside Ramos at international level by Euro 2020 next summer.
Vallejo’s injury record to date does mean some caution is necessary though. The talent and determination to succeed is definitely there. Assuming he stays fit then Wolves look to have pulled off another real coup.
