Wolves have appointed former Real Madrid and Sevilla boss Julen Lopetgui as their new head coach, more than a month after sacking Bruno Lage.
Lopetegui's appointment was announced on Saturday, and the Spaniard will officially take over from Monday 14 November – meaning his first game in charge won't be until after the World Cup; he had previously turned the job down due to his father's ill health. Just like Lage and predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo, the 56-year-old is a client of super-agent Jorge Mendes – a big influence at Molineux.
For the last five games, Wolves have been under the caretaker stewardship of Steve Davis – with Lage having been dismissed following a 2-0 loss to West Ham at the start of October.
It's been a miserable season so far for Wolves, who came into this weekend second-bottom of the Premier League with just 10 points from a possible 39.
But the arrival of Lopetegui – who lost his job at Sevilla just two days after Lage's sacking – ought to get fans feeling more optimistic about the rest of the campaign: he brings experience of coaching Porto and Sevilla in the Champions League – he guided the former to the quarter-finals, and won the 2019/20 Europa League with the latter – as well as two years as manager of the Spanish national team.
Lopetegui's stint at Real Madrid was considerably less successful – he lasted just over two months – but there's no doubting his pedigree at the top level. Intriguingly, he's also the third ex-goalkeeper to manage Wolves in recent times – following in the footsteps of Walter Zenga and Nuno Espirito Santo.
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