Wolves part ways with Julen Lopetegui days before Manchester United fixture

Julen Lopetegui has parted ways with rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) days before their opening game of the season against Manchester United, as per the Manchester Evening News.

The Spanish manager had ‘differences of opinion on certain issues’ with the Molineux Stadium side and has cut short his stint with the Premier League outfit. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the 56-year-old next.

Lopetegui rose to prominence as the manager of the Spain national team and was subsequently handed the reins at Real Madrid. However, his stint at Los Rojiblancos did not go to plan.

After that, the Spaniard made a name for himself once again at Sevilla. The 56-year-old found immense success at the Andalusian-based club. But he was dismissed as their head coach in 2022.

Wolves appointed Lopetegui as their head coach in November after Bruno Lage struggled at the start of the previous campaign. The Spaniard managed to help the Molineux Stadium survive the drop and finished 13th in the league table at the end of the 2022/23 term.

However, the 56-year-old will not take charge of their first game of the upcoming campaign on 14 August. As things stand, former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil is leading the race to replace him at the West Midlands-based club.

The club and Julen Lopetegui have reached an agreement to part ways, ending his nine month stay as head coach.

— Wolves (@Wolves) August 8, 2023

United will seemingly have an advantage at home when they take on Wolves due to their managerial uncertainty. Hopefully, we will be able to make the most of the Molineux Stadium side’s disorganization.

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Last season, Erik ten Hag got off to a bad start in the league, losing the first two games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford back-to-back in poor fashion. It will be interesting to see how the Old Trafford side have progressed in the last year.