Motherwell look to exploit Wolves talent's 'super strength' after loan move as boss provides transfer latest
The Wolves player has made a transfer to Motherwell this summer.
Stuart Kettlewell hopes he can unlock Wolves loanee Marvin Kelata’s ‘super strength’ after the right-back’s move to the Premiership at Motherwell.
The youngster has been with the Fir Park club for over a week, following a season-long loan switch from the Premier League side. Kettlewell has a track record in developing young full-back players who have appeared in ML1, with Georgie Gent, Brodie Spencer and James Furlong arriving from English academies with little senior experience, and establishing themselves as first team staples.
Gent is now pushing for a spot in the Blackburn Rovers team, while Spencer is a Huddersfield Town regular. Furlong sealed a move to Hull City from Brighton after time at Motherwell, with Kettlewell keen to use Kelata’s athleticism as a platform to mould him like he has with stars before.
He said ahead of this weekend’s Premier Sports Cup group stage finale vs Partick Thistle: “I am always looking for what I call a super strength. I always look for something that sticks out so if you don’t have that senior football experience, you must be able to do something exceptional.
“One thing with Georgie Gent is he was as good as delivering a cross on the run with a live ball as I have ever worked with. His quality was incredible. That was the thing that stuck out for us and it’s our job to see if we can piece together the other elements of his game. That worked well for us and Georgie and as fate would have it, they are close. Marvin and Georgie are friendly, work with the same representative.
“Marvin’s skillset is slightly different, he has pace to burn and is ridiculously athletic. He’s quick, powerful, has good quality. That athleticism is the first thing that jumped out at me, and how I can try to utilise that on that right hand side of the pitch. He’s nearly two weeks behind the rest of the group purely from the English season and his pre-season, but we are starting to get him up to speed.
“We got him some minutes the other day in a bounce game and it’s that super strength. That thing I think he brings to the group we don’t have necessarily have in a specific position, similar to Georgie done last year. Brodie Spencer was a good example of that, being a really good athlete and someone that defended well. That’s what we are looking for and hopefully we can give him the platform of senior football.”
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is set to be the latest signing of Kettlewell’s summer recruitment drive, with the striker jetting into Scotland to complete a move from Newcastle Jets. Kettlewell would like another addition on top of the Australian international.
He added: “I would still be hoping to do at least one more bit of business. You need to try and get a balance to your squad. I am not looking to lose anybody from what I have other than putting some lads out to loans, which we are working towards. Getting more players back from injury plus one or two more coming in, that will start to pave a way for that. I think on top of that we would be looking at least one but we need to make sure there’s harmony in the group.”