User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 473: Red Lightning, Review./@comment-4999650-20160216055637/@comment-7418318-20160216093440

To our current knowledge Yury was just there for additional motivation (not that that was needed)... but it could turn out to be more.

Maybe Mashima has some plans for Yury to have an actual impact on the story in some way and that's why he keeps reminding us of him, first with Walrod and now with Laxus and Mavis.