Emile Heskey would be interested to see Gennaro Gattuso replace Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves, telling HITC that the Napoli boss is a ‘totally different character’ to the current Molineux manager.
While the former Porto and Valencia coach is renowned for his calming demeanour on the sidelines, the same cannot be said of the sabre-toothed Gattuso.
One of the most volatile characters in modern football, the 2006 World Cup winner continues to blaze as hot as ever even after swapping his boots and shinpads for a clipboard and whistle.
Beyond the glowering visage, however, lies a shrewd tactician, one who put AC Milan back on the straight and narrow after years of meandering around mid-table before guiding Napoli to Coppa Italia glory in 2020.
Tuttomercatoweb reports that Wolverhampton Wanderers are considering a shake-up behind the scenes, with Gattuso lined up as a potential successor for Nuno after an underwhelming 2020/21 campaign at Molineux.
And Heskey, the former Aston Villa and Birmingham City striker, wonders if the Wolves squad could adapt to an entirely new approach.
“Two totally different characters! Gattuso has done fantastically since he’s gone into management. A very fiery character. It would be interesting to see how he does with the players Nuno has brought,” Heskey says.
“Nuno seems like quite a calm manager and then to go to a manager who is screaming, shouting and bellowing from the sidelines… it can have quite an effect on players. I’m not sure how that would actually pan out.”
One player who may be keen to see Gattuso arrive in England, however, is Patrick Cutrone.
The forgotten man of Molineux was given his big break by Gattuso at Milan, after all, scoring 18 goals in 2017/18 before that ill-fated £19 million move to the Black Country.
“100 per cent. I’ve been in that situation where I’ve been at clubs and the manager has left and it’s like a new lease of life,” Heskey adds. “It could be revitalise him.”
The injury-enforced absence of star striker Raul Jimenez, coupled with the departures of Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota, has certainly played a part in Wolves’ most difficult season since Fosun International took over the club in 2016.
Heskey, however, believes that there are a number of other factors at play.
“It’s been a weird season for Wolves after producing what they did last season. People kind of looked at them as their second team and enjoyed the way that they play.
“From producing fluid football to now putting in performances like this… is it concentration? Is it a mental thing? Is it too much football? Is it a lack of pre-season? We can throw this all into the hat to be honest.
“These lads, before the start of the season, probably trained all together for about two weeks. It’s not enough and we’re seeing that now.
“(Adama) Traore is not quite the player we enjoyed (last season). He’s not quite that exciting player anymore. Hopefully they can get back to their old selves.”
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