Sporting director Matt Hobbs believes Santiago Bueno will complement Wolves’ central defensive options well moving forward, after joining the club from Girona.
The lofty Uruguayan is comfortable in possession, as well as when defending, and brings balance as a second right-sided central defender alongside Craig Dawson.
Experience of playing in La Liga and for his national team, Hobbs believes Bueno is embracing the challenge of the Premier League at the right age of 24 and is excited to see him kick on in old gold.
On completing the Bueno signing
“This is a signing we’ve been working on for a while. Uruguay are renowned for producing world class centre backs. At 24 he’s a good age, with a great football education coming through Barcelona B. We were one centre back short, so now we think in that group of four we’ve got a little bit of everything so we’re really happy.
“His personality is one we look for in a player, driven, hungry, hardworking and humble, but with a bit of an edge and can play. He’s a perfect fit for what we’ve been looking for.”
On complementing the other defenders
“He’s another right footer, so we’ve got two each now. He’s six foot four inches and aggressive, as you’d expect from a Uruguayan centre back, but he can play too. He’ll be our second youngest centre back, so is also one for the future, whilst being ready to go now.
“It gives us a good balance between the four on the pitch and what he brings, being a front-footed defender which we’ve seen is what Gary likes, and he can cover the space in behind. I’ve spoken previously about units and with the back four, he’s the perfect complement for that.”
On Bielsa’s strong reference
“I spoke to people around [Marcelo] Bielsa who raves about him, he’s been called up by the national team and is expected to be a big part of them moving forward. When Santiago went on holiday, he was asked to go to the national training camp and went through his Girona games intensely.
“He was full of absolute praise for him and couldn’t speak highly enough of Santiago. When his national team head coach is that big on him, on his strengths and developing him, it’s exciting.”
On being ready for a new challenge
“He wants that next step. He went to Barcelona B and, as it can happen at big clubs, it didn’t fully work out because they took [Ronald] Araujo around the same time, and he came through. It’s my understanding that he could have gone to bigger clubs, but he wanted to go and play and showed a lot of humility.
“He’s gone and played, and got better, got more experienced, learning his game more. He’s still only 24 and the average age for a Premier League debut at centre back is 23, so to be 24 and have played as many games as he has, is impressive.
“Max [Kilman] is 26 and didn’t really nail his place until 23. The coaches will develop him really well and they really like him. Shaun Derry has watched a lot of him and likes how he defends and thinks he really suits us – there’s loads they can do to develop him. He works for now, works that he can kick on again and there’s loads to come.
“Gary lets Ben [Wrigglesworth] and his team do their work and then he’ll come and present. He doesn’t want to get too involved; he has complete trust in them. I would never sign a player the manager doesn’t like, it’s important they believe in them because they’ve got to play them. We have the head coach part of the process and he’s a signing we’re all excited to have.”
On settling in quickly
“He speaks a bit of English, and his girlfriend is studying English. His agent’s based in London, and he visits a lot when he has a weekend off, so he likes the English culture. He’s moved from Uruguay, to Barcelona, to Girona and has spent a lot of time in the UK, so I think it’ll be seamless. It’s more just getting used to the Premier League, the pace of it, and if you make mistakes, you get punished, so it’s learning that side of it more.”
