Christian Marques interview: Defender opens up on Wolves exit and next steps

Wolves’ scouts were excited about bringing in a centre-back they felt could go on to play for the first team and beyond.

He was earmarked as a perfect player for the ‘Conor Coady role’ in the middle of a back three – and quickly became part of the senior group under Nuno Espirito Santo.

Four years later and without a senior Wolves appearance to his name, Marques left Wolves this summer to return to Switzerland with top-flight side Yverdon Sport.

“I still had a contract until 2025 and I was always planning to go on loan, but the decision I had to make was whether I wanted to go on loan for one season and then come back, or do I want to go somewhere permanently and try to settle before making the next step again,” Marques told the Express & Star.

“That was the decision I had to make and for myself, and the club, I think it was the best decision. I’m happy we did it and happy to be here.

“It was a difficult decision because I’ve been there from 16-20 and Wolves opened my eyes to football.

“I enjoyed the football and I can’t argue with anything about the club. For me, it was perfect. The only thing missing was having at least one game with the first team, but that’s how football works.

“I loved Wolves and still love them. I still watch games and still have friends over there.

“It wasn’t an easy decision but it also wasn’t a hard one. I left friends there, but that’s football, and if you want to go and make the next step you have to sacrifice that.”

Soon after joining Wolves at a tender age, Marques quickly captained the under-18s and then the under-23s, as well as joining Nuno’s squad in China for their Premier League Asia Trophy victory.

He had captained Switzerland at youth levels, before later playing for Portugal’s under-18s, and was heavily praised at Wolves for his leadership skills in the academy sides.

Marques was even named on the bench for Wolves’ Europa League quarter-final loss to Sevilla in August 2020, with a first-team spot within touching distance.

Once Bruno Lage arrived in the summer of 2021, Marques was once again around the first team in pre-season and played in a friendly at Coventry, where he picked up an injury.

The defender said he was always due to leave on loan that summer, meaning he believes the injury did not get in the way of a first-team appearance, but what came next was difficult to predict.

In October that year he finally made his loan move, joining Portugeuese top-flight side Belenenses SAD, but after failing to play a single minute he returned to Wolves in January and remained with the under-23s.

His luck worsened when he joined League One side Forest Green Rovers in September 2022 and after getting into the team, he came back to Wolves just three months later with a serious hamstring injury.

Marques added: “While at Wolves I think I had two injuries. One was around Covid, with something on my calf that took me out of action for four or five weeks.

“Then the last one was the one that frustrated me the most, when I was on loan at Forest Green and I injured my hamstring.

“My loan in Portugal didn’t go as well as I hoped but from that, I went back to Wolves, decided to stay for the rest of the season and we won the league and got promoted. Coming back for pre-season and then going to Forest Green, that started off quite well. I started playing straight away.”

Despite that bad luck and not getting his chance in the Premier League, Marques has no ill-feeling towards Wolves.

In fact, it is quite the opposite – the centre-back is incredibly positive about the club, his experiences and the people there who he holds in high regard.

“I can’t complain about anything,” Marques said. “I joined the club at 16 and was supposed to be with the under-18s, but quickly everything changed and at 16 I was playing with the under-23s as captain and sometimes training with the first team too.

“It was something I wasn’t used to. I came from Switzerland and I was training with the under-15s and under-16s at the time, then I went over and had to get used to speaking English.

“They helped me and gave me confidence. Everything was perfect. It was fantastic.”

Now back in Switzerland, Marques made his debut for Yverdon Sport on October 1 and with their next game coming up on October 22, he hopes to finally make a success of his young career – as he keeps one eye on the future. “I already knew last season, before I made the decision to come back to Switzerland, that I wanted to come here,” he said.

“I think I’ve made the right decision. I can’t say I planned it, but in my head I knew what I wanted to do this year and in the next few years of my career. Last season I saw a lot of players here go to Germany and France, so that’s one of my main goals.

“I’m trying to play as much as I can here for one, two or three years and then make the next step again.

“To have a lot of professional games under my belt was key for me coming back to Switzerland.

“I’m happy I’ve got one game under my belt already, which went quite well, as I didn’t do pre-season. It’s been tough but hopefully I will get a run of games.

“I’m not living with my family, I’m living on my own still and it’s still more than two hours from my family. Off the pitch of course I can see my family more often now, and they travel to stay at my apartment for home games.

“But the main thing was because I saw so many players move to Switzerland and then move abroad again and do well. That’s what I’m trying to do now as well.”