Wolves announce departure of Julen Lopetegui

Wolves have announced that manager Julen Lopetegui has left the club just days before the start of the Premier League season.

Lopetegui arrived at Molineux in November 2022 following the dismissal of Bruno Lage and found the club embroiled in a relegation battle.

The Spaniard was able to guide Wolves to a 13th-place finish, but it was announced via a club statement on Tuesday evening that he has now left the Midlands side.

The statement read: “Wolves and Julen Lopetegui have reached an agreement to part ways… the head coach and club acknowledged and accepted their differences on certain issues and agreed that an amicable end to his contract was the best solution for all parties.

“Talks have been ongoing in recent weeks, held with the upmost respect and cordiality, affording the club time and space to begin work on finding a successor.”

BirminghamLive reported on Wednesday morning that former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil will be announced as Lopetegui’s successor today.

Where does this leave Wolves?

It has already been a difficult summer for Wolves, but this plunges them even closer to a potential second relegation battle.

The club have already seen Ruben Neves, Nathan Collins, Joao Moutinho, Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore, Diego Costa, Conor Coady and Ryan Giles head out the door this summer, with nothing to replace them.

Goalkeeper Tom King and the returning Matt Doherty are the only new signings this summer, aside from buy obligations being activated for Matheus Cunha and Boubacar Traore.

Their squad is looking significantly weaker than it was last season and reinforcements are urgently needed, but it seems like they are not coming.

Wolves’ FFP situation is well known, but the club is abjectly failing in manoeuvring themselves within those tight restrictions as other clubs have done in the past.

The club need to put in some major work on the squad in the final weeks of the window if they wish to avoid the trapdoor of relegation.