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‘That was crazy’… Conor Coady says Wolves nearly hired Europa League winning manager instead of Walter Zenga
Wolves have been through a lot of change over the past decade.
From being a mid-table Championship club under Kenny Jackett to a bona fide Europa League contender under Nuno Espirito Santo, a lot has changed at Molineux since Fosun came in as owners.
Now, speaking on the , Conor Coady has lifted the lid on some of the changes Fosun planned at Wolves in their early days at the club.
The defender says that when Kenny Jackett left, the original plan was to actually hire none other than Julen Lopetegui at the time, but, unfortunately, that deal fell through and Walter Zenga instead came in.
Wolves wanted Lopetegui years ago
Coady spoke about the Europa League winning manager replacing Jackett.
“That summer the new ownership came in, Fosun came in and there were whispers that Kenny was going to leave and they were going to bring in a new manager and I think at the time Lopetegui was meant to come in at that time which was mad, that was crazy at the time, it’s a mad story, we all got told about it and he got offered the Spain job instead, but Kenny left and Walter Zenga came in” Coady said.
Long-term target
This is very interesting to hear as it’s clear to see that Lopetegui has been a long-term target for Wolves.
Of course, the Spaniard did ultimately end up managing Wolves last season before departing before the beginning of this season, and while it was a brief stint, he did do a lot of good work with what was a limited squad last season.
Who knows what would’ve happened at Wolves if Lopetegui had come in all those years ago, perhaps Wolves would’ve been promoted a season earlier, or perhaps they would never have hit the heights they eventually hit under Nuno Espirito Santo.