After a tumultuous summer at Molineux, Wolverhampton Wanderers have parted ways with Julen Lopetegui following just nine months at the club, with ex-Bournemouth head coach Gary O’Neil his surprise replacement
Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed Gary O’Neil as the club’s new manager following Julen Lopetegui’s departure.
The Spaniard quit Wolves after a tumultuous summer at Molineux, having reached an agreement with club chiefs for him to be paid off. The two parties reached a deal on Tuesday afternoon for Lopetegui – and his coaching staff – to be paid a fixed sum, rather than the entirety of his big-money contract.
O’Neil, 40, held talks with Wolves and impressed during three-hour talks at the back end of last week, as revealed by Mirror Football. That saw the ex-Bournemouth boss move into pole position ahead of other candidates and he has put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal.
O’Neil has been keen to return to management after being unceremoniously dumped by the Cherries’ owners at the start of the summer, despite picking up a side that had been beaten 9-0 at Liverpool last August and were universally tipped for relegation, and dragging them to safety with games to spare. Andoni Iraola – ironically, like Lopetegui, from Spain’s Basque region – replaced him on the south coast.