Bruno Lage set to be appointed new Wolves manager within 24HOURS as replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo… with club hierarchy preparing to receive Arsenal bid for Ruben Neves
- Wolves are in the final stages of making Bruno Lage their new manager
- He has English football experience after working as Carlos Carvalhal’s assistant
- Lage, 45, is two-years younger than predecessor Santo and will be paid less
- Wolves hierarchy are bracing themselves for an Arsenal bid for Ruben Neves
Bruno Lage is expected to be confirmed as Wolves’ new coach within the next 24 hours.
Sportsmail first reported the Molineux club’s interest in Lage last month when they announced his fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo would leave after four years as manager.
The deal is expected to be finalised in the coming hours with Lage ready to put pen to paper, after he was granted international clearance last week to work in the United Kingdom.
Wolves are on the brink of confirming Bruno Lage as new head coach, arriving from Benfica
The former Benfica boss will command a salary less than that of Nuno, whose possible earnings were thought to be around the £10million mark when he signed a new three-year deal last summer.
Lage, like Nuno a client of agent Jorge Mendes, has experience of English football after working as Carlos Carvalhal’s assistant at both Swansea and Sheffield Wednesday.
He won the Portuguese title with Benfica in 2019 but left the club the following summer.
Wolves parted ways with Nuno Espirito Santo, who is reportedly heading to Crystal Palace
Lage will start work with his squad on July 5 when Wolves return for pre-season training.
His role is unlikely to be as wide-ranging as that of Nuno, with chairman Jeff Shi, technical director Scott Sellars and operations manager Matt Wild in charge of transfers and contracts.
That trio are anticipating a firm bid from Arsenal for midfielder Ruben Neves, who Wolves are prepared to sell this summer to finance a squad rebuild after a disappointing 2019-20 campaign.
Neves is currently preparing for Euro 2020 with Portugal and Wolves are looking for a fee comparable to the club-record £41million they received from Liverpool for Diogo Jota last year.
Wolves chiefs are expecting an imminent Arsenal bid for Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves