The Belgian Football Association has eyed Julen Lopetegui, the experienced Spanish coach, as a top candidate to succeed Domenico Tedesco as national coach of the Red Devils. According to Sporza, which has now been confirmed, discussions are underway between CEO Vincent Mannaert and Lopetegui.
Although the 58-year-old Spaniard is at the top of the shortlist, it is not certain that he will become the new national coach. If it doesn’t work out, Mannaert has other options at hand, including Thierry Henry and Rudi Garcia.
A major stumbling block in the negotiations is the limited budget of the Belgian Football Association. Lopetegui, with his impressive record, is not a cheap choice. Although he is currently without a club following his dismissal from West Ham in January, his salary expectations remain high.
West Ham performed disappointingly under his leadership and were only 14th in the Premier League, which led to his departure after six months. Lopetegui is no stranger to coaching a national team.
-He was Spain coach between 2016 and 2018 and got off to a promising start, including a 2-0 win against Belgium in his first match. He guided Spain to successful qualification for the 2018 World Cup. However, his term ended abruptly when he was fired just before the tournament following the announcement of his move to Real Madrid. This caused a lot of commotion in the football world at the time.
In addition to his work with national teams, Lopetegui has experience with top clubs such as FC Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolverhampton. He achieved his greatest success with Sevilla in 2020 by winning the Europa League.
An appointment of Lopetegui would not only be a statement, but could also have consequences for players such as Thibaut Courtois. Lopetegui briefly trained the Belgian goalkeeper at Real Madrid and the goalkeeper’s return is one of the requirements that Mannaert has set.
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