Premier League strugglers Wolves have spoken to Mainz coach Bo Svensson about becoming their new manager but the Bundesliga boss is far from the club’s first choice, according to The Athletic.
While Wolverhampton Wanderers don’t tend to look beyond the borders of Lisbon in their pursuit of new faces, it seems that the club from the Black Country are casting their net a little wider this time around.
Take Svensson, for instance; A Danish-born tactician who has spent the entirety of his admittedly short managerial career in Austria and Germany.
The Athletic say that Svensson has held discussions with Wolves. And although the 43-year-old is ‘some way down the list of potential candidates’, Wolves interest does at least show that their managerial candidates are no longer limited to those in Jorge Mendes’ stable.
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“As a coach, he’s a great, great talent,” former Mainz boss Jurgen Klopp said of Svensson recently. “And has done an outstanding job so far.
“He has a heart for Mainz 05, that’s important. He brings the right mood to the club again. I’m very optimistic that things are going in the right direction with him now.”
Mainz looked destined for relegation when Svensson, a former defender at the MEWA Arena, returned to his old stomping ground in January 2021. Not only did he save them from the drop, he then led the 05ers to a top-half finish the very next season, instilling a ferocious, sweat-shedding style of football that has struck a chord with the club’s re-energised fanbase.
Steve Cooper, under serious pressure at Nottingham Forest, is another option for Wolves. Ditto Julen Lopetegui. He, like Cooper, appears to be hanging onto his job with his fingernails, with Sevilla enduring their worst start to a La Liga season in over 40 years.
Former Olympiakos coach Pedro Martins is another in contention. As is one-time Roma honcho Eusebio di Francesco.
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