Former Wolves defender Andy Thompson has praised Jean-Ricner Bellegarde after his impressive debut against Liverpool.
The Frenchman was thrust straight into the starting lineup by Gary O’Neil, having signed for the club before the international break.
Bellegarde is the latest addition to Wolves’ summer transfer window.
He signed as soon as the deadline passed, with Wolves officials traveling to Strasbourg to monitor the player’s medical condition.
Wolves paid just under £13 million for the midfielder. And on Saturday he appeared in front of the Molineux faithful for the first time – and he presented himself well.
He mainly plays lightly on the left wing, which allows him to combine well with Pedro Neto, who was also excellent on Saturday.
Bellegarde showed great energy and held the ball well. He also showed off some very neat touches.
It caught Thompson’s attention, with the former full-back (Wolves manager) saying:
“In the first half I was very impressed with him, the way he played and the positive moves he would make against the Liverpool defence. You could see he started to struggle in the second half , when entering a new league and the speed of play.” Premier League, shows you the difference. There are a number of possible causes for that, but we got a glimpse of what we hope he will bring to the team.
“He’s positive, confident with the ball, he’s got good running ability and that’s what you want from the players you bring into the team. I hope he gives us a spark that, and he certainly did in the first half – but he ran with wooden legs in the second half, because of the cramps, he couldn’t bend his legs, but he wasn’t the only one.
The Wolves just lost ball carrier Matheus Nunes.
But the club appear to have found someone else in Bellegarde and that will be crucial for the future.
You need players to get the ball into the final third and Wolves do that quite well.
