Express & Star

Wolves defender heads to Switzerland in latest loan switch

Wolves youngster Dexter Lembikisa will spend the rest of the season on loan with Swiss outfit Yverdon Sport.

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The 20-year-old, who has featured four times for the Wolves first team, has already had two loan spells away from Molineux.

He spent the first half of last season at Championship side Rotherham - before joining SPL side Hearts in January.

Last season represented a big step up for the defender, who also became a regular with the Jamaican national side, representing his country in the Copa America, as well as featuring in the recent CONCACAF Nations League campaign.

He will now join the Swiss Super League side for the rest of the season, a move which professional football development officer, Matt Jackson, believes will be another key test in his development.

He explained: "This is going to be a different type of loan for Dexter from what he experienced last year with Rotherham and Hearts, and I’m really pleased that he’s jumped at this opportunity to expand his own horizons, in a football sense and in a living sense as well.

“The Swiss league is more technical than what he’s been used to, but he showed he can play in the Championship with that frenetic pace and intensity they have, the same with the Scottish Premiership.

“But now he’s in the situation where he’s going to a slightly more technical league where it will be slower paced for him, but he will see a variation of player up against him.

"He’s obviously got great international experience now as well, and he’ll continue to add to that and this just becomes another part of his football development.

“We like our boys to have as many opportunities as possible and the fact that he’s so keen to go out there and try something different shows who he is as a character and what we think of him.”

The defender will be linking up with a familiar face at his new club.

Former Wolves academy graduate Christian Marques made a permanent switch to the club from Molineux last year.

And Lembikisa is hoping a familiar face can help him settle quickly into his new surroundings.

He added: "From my own time in Switzerland last year with Zurich, I know how well Yverdon did in the league and also how well they’ve done with Christian, who’s playing regularly for them.

“We like the boys who go out on loan to be tested, but we don’t like things to be impossible for them, and having Christian there with him will hopefully make it an easier transition at the start.

“They’ve played a lot of football together, they’re close as well, so it will be good from that perspective. It’s certainly not paramount for us, but it’s an added bonus in this instance.

“The club is very good and they’ve been creative with their scouting, very professional in their dealings with us, and we think it will be a great next step for Dexter.”