Wolves make No.1 choice for next manager but still plan more meetings with candidates

Wolves are considering a move to hire Pedro Martins as their next head coach but want to meet several candidates before making a final call.

Bruno Lage was sacked on Sunday with Wolves in the Premier League bottom three after scoring just three goals in eight games. They are keen to appoint a successor ahead of a busy run of eight games before the World Cup break, starting at Chelsea on Saturday.

Martins, 52, a former midfielder and Portugal international, is out of work after being sacked by Greek champions Olympiacos in August. He joined Olympiacos in 2018 and won the league three times in his four seasons and the Greek Cup once.

But despite signing a two-year extension to his deal and winning the league last season, Martins was axed in August after a 4-0 home loss to Maccabi Haifa in a Champions League qualifier. Martins has also worked with a number of the squad in the past and managed both Daniel Podence and Jose Sa during their time at Olympiacos. He is believed to be interested in the move after recently turning down advances from Championship club Hull.

But the Molineux club, who spent over £100million on new players this summer, are also interested in Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim. The 37-year-old is a highly-rated young coach who won the Primeira Liga in 2020/21 during his first full season with Sporting – handing the club their first title win in 19 years. But Amorim has a deal with Sporting until 2024 making any move for him expensive.

Wolves have assigned coaches Steve Davis and James Collins to prepare the team this week for the trip to Chelsea and want to take their time to consider several bosses. Former Wolves keeper Matt Murray assessed: “I don’t like to see managers lose their jobs but I can see why. There were several alarm bells ringing. The players are not playing great despite big money being spent. The squad is under-performing. Whoever comes in now it is a big appointment.”