As a former coach of both Spain and Real Madrid and the winner of a major European trophy, Julen Lopetegui has the credentials to become a successful Premier League manager.

The former goalkeeper is a prominent target for Wolves as they seek a successor to Bruno Lage, who was sacked last Sunday, and Lopetegui has wanted to move to England for some time. 

He has also worked with Ruben Neves at Porto, and the Wolves skipper has described Lopetegui as a ‘special coach’.

Sevilla are reportedly on the brink of sacking their manager Julen Lopetegui after a poor start

Yet something has gone badly wrong at Sevilla this season, to the extent Lopetegui finds himself on the brink of the sack. 

Jorge Sampaoli has been identified as his replacement and is expected to start his second stint as boss in time for Saturday’s game against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga.

Lopetegui’s team have won only once in the league this term and are above the relegation zone on goal difference alone. Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund – tipped by many to be Lopetegui’s final game at the helm – they are bottom of their group with one point from two games.

After winning the Europa League in 2020 and finishing fourth in LaLiga in each of the last two seasons, it has been quite a slump. 

Lopetegui has looked out of answers and out of petrol, and Spanish sources wonder whether he would have the energy for another big job so soon.

Yet if Sevilla’s season is taken in isolation, he is not to blame for many of the problems they have. 

He has an ageing, lop-sided squad and lost both his first-choice central defenders, Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde, over the summer, as well as wide attacker Lucas Ocampos.

The coach is not responsible for recruitment at Sevilla. That job falls to Monchi, regarded as one of the best in the business in Europe but who – on the evidence of recent transfer window – appears to have temporarily lost his magic touch. 

Sevilla have one of the oldest squads in Europe’s top five-leagues and their new players are struggling to make an impact.

Brazilian defender Marcao, signed from Galatasaray for about £10million during the summer, has yet to make his competitive debut due to injury. His fellow centre-back Tanguy Nianzou has struggled to settle since completing an £8m move from Bayern Munich and has not manage to convince Lopetegui he is worth a regular spot. 

For a team built on defensive solidity during the era of Diego Carlos and Kounde, this is a major weakness.

Then there is Ocampos. The Argentine is a powerful player who gave Sevilla a different dimension, but he has joined Ajax – initially on a season’s loan. Sevilla were anticipating a permanent deal worth £17.5m but instead they received a loan fee of just £3.6m, which hampered them in the transfer market.

That has left Lopetegui with a number of players who have similar qualities. How do you fit Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez, Isco, Oliver Torres, Suso and Erik Lamela into the same starting XI? 

Kasper Dolberg and Adnan Januzaj were supposed to boost Lopetegui’s attacking power, but Dolberg has yet to score and Januzaj – the former Manchester United winger – has barely featured.

Lopetegui, of course, is used to crisis. He lost his job on the eve of the World Cup when his bosses at the Spanish FA were furious to learn he would take over at Real Madrid after the tournament. 

If he walks into a relegation battle at Wolves, it will not faze him. It may even give him fresh energy after a gruelling three years at Sevilla, fighting for the big prizes at home and abroad.

If Wolves do hire Lopetegui, they are banking on the version they wanted in 2016, when Chinese conglomerate Fosun completed their takeover, only for Lopetegui to take the Spain post instead. 

Spain were scintillating under his leadership and, after an unsuccessful spell in Madrid, he has done very well for Sevilla. If Lopetegui arrives at Molineux, he will be confident of making his mark there too.