Former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil has been named Wolves’ new manager, succeeding Julen Lopetegui on a three-year contract.

Lopetegui’s departure from Molineux was announced on Tuesday, only three days before the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season.

O’Neil guided Bournemouth to 15th place last season before being fired on June 19th.

“Gary’s a highly motivated young coach with strong principles,” stated Matt Hobbs, Wolves’ sporting director.

“We’re delighted to welcome him to the club, and we’re excited to see what we can achieve together at Wolves.”

The 40-year-old is the club’s fourth manager in less than two years.

His first duty will be to travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Monday.

Several candidates were considered to succeed Lopetegui, but O’Neil was the preferred choice.

“Everyone at Wolves is looking forward to welcoming Gary, offering him their full support, and working collaboratively to help the club continue to push forward together,” Hobbs continued.

“Our players have shown their quality during pre-season, and I believe Gary and his team will continue to coach and improve them, as well as have success working with this group.”

O’Neil played over 450 times for clubs such as Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, West Ham, QPR, and Norwich.

He began his coaching career as an assistant manager with Liverpool’s Under-23s in August 2020. In February 2021, he joined Bournemouth’s coaching staff under former manager Jonathan Woodgate.

Following Scott Parker’s dismissal following a 9-0 loss to Liverpool in August 2022, the Cherries chose O’Neil as acting manager. After guiding the south coast club from 17th to 14th place in the Premier League, he was appointed permanent manager in November, signing a one-and-a-half-year contract with the option to extend for another 12 months.

During his tenure at Vitality Stadium, O’Neil managed the squad in 27 matches across all competitions, winning 11, drawing 6, and losing 10, for a win ratio of 40.74%.During the same era, Lopetegui managed 27 games for Wolves, winning 10, drawing 6, and losing 11.