Wolves’ new manager targets have been revealed shortly after the sacking of Bruno Lage, with the Midlands club being linked to an ex-Man Utd boss, among others, who’s been sounded out as a candidate to avoid.
Wolves parted ways with Portuguese coach Bruno Lage after the weekend’s 2-0 loss to West Ham capped off a disappointing start to the current campaign, with the Midlands side sitting 18th in the Premier League.
Despite finishing in a respectable 10th position during his first campaign in the PL last season, fans have grown frustrated with the lack of expansiveness in Wolves’ style of football. Only three teams scored less than Wolves’ 38 goals last season, namely Burnley, Watford and Norwich, all of whom were relegated at the end of the campaign.
Nothing seems to have changed at the start of the current season as Wolves unsurprisingly have the worst attack in the league so far this season, only scoring three goals.
Ex-Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been linked to the club as a potential replacement for Lage, much to the dismay of Wolves fans. The Norwegian coach has been without a job since the back-end of 2021, with the manner in which he was hounded out and how his team performed, still fresh in the minds of the Gold and Black Army’s fans.
Among the other candidates, and the current favourite for the vacancy, is Ruben Amorim of Sporting Lisbon. The 37-year-old coach is said to be the next big managerial star to come out of Portugal, with many Liga NOS fans claiming he’s already one of the best young coaches in the world.
During his three seasons in charge of Sporting thus far, Amorim guided the Leões to their first league title since 2002, as well as to success in three domestic cup competitions.
Next up in terms of favourites for the job is current Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui, who is also under severe pressure as the Spanish side currently sit 17th in La Liga, picking up just five points from their opening seven games.
Lopetegui’s record this season may prove to be too much of a stumbling block for Wolves, especially since they lay in a similar position to Sevilla in the PL.
Former Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins is also reportedly keen to fill the vacancy. This may prove to be a deal that materializes given that Martins is Portuguese and has strong connections to Jorge Mendes, being a client of the super agent’s agency – Gestifute. Both Martins’ potential predecessors in Nuno Espirito Santo and Lage are also Gestifute clients, making a move for the 52-year-old Martins a likely option.
Martins would join the Midlands club off the back of a successful last spell of management, leading Olympiacos to three consecutive Greek Super League successes between 2019 and 2022.
Wolves are bound to be in negotiations with plenty of managerial targets over the coming days. However, it remains unclear if a new manager will be appointed before the next set of Premier League fixtures. Wolves will be hoping to get a deal done before then in the hopes of a new-manager bounce kicking in on Saturday as they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.
