Lopetegui leaves Wolves with O'Neil in frame as replacement
Published
Wolves officially announced the departure of manager Julen Lopetegui on Tuesday. Wolves opens its 2023-2024 Premier League campaign on Monday with a visit to Manchester United.
Talks had been ongoing between Lopetegui and Wolves management over his departure with his belief that the financial situation at the club had made it untenable for him to stay on. The former Real Madrid and Spain manager took over at Wolves last November with the team dead last in the league and guided them to a 13th-place finish.
“On behalf of everyone at the club I’d like to thank Julen and his staff for their dedication and hard work during their time at the football club," Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said. "They were brought in with the primary aim of keeping the club in the Premier League last season, an objective which they achieved with games to spare. While our ambition had been to move into the new season together, it is public knowledge that there were differences of opinion on some key topics, and it was agreed by all parties that it would be best to part ways ahead of the new campaign.
After a successful pre-season, full of hard work and good performances, Julen and his staff leave the squad in great shape ahead of the season opener next week, which will give his successor the best possible platform for success. We wish Julen and his team the very best of luck for the future, and they will always be welcome at Wolves.”
Because of Financial Fair Play rules, Wolves has found the summer transfer market difficult to navigate.Captain Ruben Neves and Luis Jimenez have left the club with the former joining Saudi side Al-Hillal in a club-record £47 million move and the latter signing with Fulham for £5 million. Ireland full-back Matt Doherty returning to the team on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur has been Wolves' only addition.
Earlier on Tuesday, BBC Sport's Ian Dennis reported former Bournemouth gaffer Gary O'Neil was in line to replace the Spaniard.
O'Neil, 40, was surprisingly fired by Bournemouth in June after guiding the team to a 15th-place finish in their first year back in the top flight. O'Neil had been appointed manager in late August following the dismissal of Scott Parker.
As a player, O'Neil made 216 Premier League appearances with Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, West Ham and Norwich City.