Sevilla’s sacking of Julen Lopetegui potentially “opens the door” for Wolves to make a move for the Spanish head coach – who would be a ‘great addition’ at Molineux.
That is the opinion of journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol before the 56-year-old’s sacking was confirmed on Wednesday evening.
Wolves remain managerless after sacking head coach Bruno Lage last weekend following the side’s poor start to the season, which was compounded by a 2-0 defeat at West Ham United on Saturday.
That result leaves the West Midlands side in the Premier League relegation zone, having won just one game from a possible eight to begin the season.
Lopetegui almost took the Wolves job back in 2016, but was swayed by the Spanish national team job instead.
However, the former Real Madrid head coach is now the Premier League side’s preferred choice to replace Lage, according to reports.
And O’Rourke believes that Lopetegui’s Sevilla sacking now opens the door for Wolves to make a move for their desired first-choice successor.
He said: “Obviously, things haven’t worked out too well for him this season with Sevilla and it does look like he will be leaving the Spanish club after a real disappointing start to the campaign.
“That opens the door maybe for Wolves to lure Lopetegui to the Premier League.
“I think he’d be a great addition to the Premier League with the experience and his CV, he’s definitely got a real pedigree”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…
We believe that it seems inevitable that Lopetegui’s sacking, which came after Sevilla’s 4-1 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, is the start of a series of events that could lead to him taking charge at Molineux for the remainder of the season.
Having won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2020 – beating Wolves along the way – the Spaniard would arrive with a greater pedigree than those who had passed before him since the club’s Fosun takeover, and would certainly raise a few eyebrows around the league.
Therefore, we believe that the Wolves hierarchy should be doing all they can to convince Lopetegui to take to the Molineux dugout this season if they want to get themselves out of relegation trouble soon.