According to numerous sources, Julen Lopetegui has decided to turn down the offer to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers, apparently citing family reasons as the driving force behind his decision.
Lopetegui was in charge at Sevilla until his team suffered a shocking 1-4 home defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week. Following his sacking, the La Liga side appointed Jorge Sampaoli in his place and have already managed to stay undefeated against the same opposition, drawing 1-1 at the Signal Iduna Park.
Meanwhile, Wolves started the season poorly and having found themselves in the relegation zone, they also dispensed with the services of manager Bruno Lage last week. Numerous reports stated that Lopetegui was their primary target to replace the Portuguese and it is believed that CEO Jeff Shi made the trip to Spain to talk to him in person.
However, it’s obvious that Shi’s efforts have been in vain, and Lopetegui won’t be coming to the Molineux, where Wolves welcome Nottingham Forest on Saturday as they seek to turn their fortunes around as soon as possible. Right now, they only have six points from nine matches to their name. With Steve Davis and James Collins, the Under-18 and Under-21 coaches, respectively, in charge on an interim basis, they’ve turned their attention to alternative targets.
Lopetegui worked in various roles at Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid, before managing Spain at levels from Under-19 to Under-21. He then took over at FC Porto where he stayed for 18 months before being appointed to lead Spain’s senior team.
Having guided them successfully through the qualification process ahead of the 2018 World Cup, he had accepted the head coach role at Real Madrid behind the scenes and was supposed to start his new job the following season, and Los Blancos did him no favour by announcing the appointment before the actual tournament in Russia.
Lopetegui was immediately sacked by the Spanish FA for the obvious lack of loyalty, and he lasted just three months in the Santiago Bernabeu dugout.
Sevilla appointed him in July, 2019.
