Gary O'Neil has been appointed as the new head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-year contract, the Premier League club has announced.
Wolves wasted little time in bringing in the former Bournemouth manager after Julen Lopetegui, quit his post on Tuesday – just days before the start of the new Premier League season.
Lopetegui and Wolves parted company less than a week before their first game of the 2023/24 league campaign, at Manchester United on Monday, with reported differences on transfer policy said to be behind the end of the Spaniard's nine months in charge at Molineux.
The 40-year-old O'Neil, a rising star among English football managers, was immediately installed as favourite to take over at the West Midlands club, having been surprisingly sacked by Bournemouth in June despite guiding the Cherries to Premier League safety last season.
'Highly motivated'
"We're delighted to welcome Gary to the club," said Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs in a statement on Wednesday.
"He's a highly-motivated young coach with strong principles and very well thought of by everyone he has worked with, and we're excited to s ee what we can achieve together at Wolves.
"Our players have shown their quality during pre-season, and I believe Gary and his team will continue to coach and improve them and will have success working with this group."
O'Neil, who made his name in football as a midfielder with Portsmouth, replaced Scott Parker as Bournemouth manager at the end of August last year and led the team to a 15th-place finish in the Premier League.
O'Neil initially took over from Parker on an interim basis following a 9-0 hammering at Liverpool before being appointed permanently in November.
13th-place finish
He took 36 points from his 34 top-flight games in charge but was still let go by Bournemouth who, just hours later, appointed former Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola as their new manager.
Former Spain and Real Madrid boss Lopetegui joined Wolves in November, replacing Bruno Lage, with the club bottom of the Premier League and helped them stay in the top flight, finishing 13th in the league.
But the 56-year-old was said to be frustrated by their approach in the transfer market, with a number of first-team players departing this summer and few replacements found.
Wolves have sold the likes of Ruben Neves, Conor Coady, Nathan Collins and Raul Jimenez and have only brought in two players on free transfers – Matt Doherty and Tom King.
Tuesday's statement acknowledged the rift between Lopetegui and Wolves's hierarchy by saying: "The head coach and club acknowledged and accepted their differences of opinion on certain issues and agreed that an amicable end to his contract was the best solution for all parties."
