Joleon Lescott was linked with a return to Wolves in a coaching capacity quite a bit during the search for a new Wolves head coach.
Joleon Lescott began his career at Wolves, and after playing 229 games for the club, it does hold a special place in his heart.
At Molineux News, we exclusively revealed Wolves and Edwards were interested in bringing Lescott back as a coach.
However, that would ultimately not come to fruition.
Lescott has spoken out about Edwards’ move to Wolves and how the new head coach believes he can pull the club out of the relegation zone.
Are you confident Rob Edwards will help Wolves avoid relegation?
And he has now revealed the true reason he did not return to the club where his football career started.
Joleon Lescott put family first ahead of Wolves return
Joleon Lescott has now addressed the links of him returning to Wolves to help Rob Edwards, and he has confirmed that it was a possibility.
The former Old Gold defender has said that talks took place for him to come back, but he rejected the chance due to one big reason: his family.
Speaking on TNT Sports ahead of Burnley vs Chelsea, Lescott was asked about the reports and said, “There was a general consideration; Rob is a good friend, and Wolves is a special place for me.
“But I analysed the whole package and not just the coaching and sentimental element of it. There are a lot of moving parts in life, and I am enjoying life at the moment, and I get a good balance.
“I get the opportunity to watch my youngest son play football and my daughter play netball, and those things would have been taken away from me. It was the realisation of ‘what changes?’ and literally everything would have changed for me, so I thought, ‘No, I’ll stick here [at TNT Sports].’
It is certainly a respectable reason for saying no, and the new Wolves head coach knows firsthand how big a role family plays in making such a decision.
- READ MORE: Matt Jarvis points out the biggest difference Wolves fans will notice with Rob Edwards in charge
Rob Edwards would have completely understood Joleon Lescott’s rejection
While Rob Edwards would have been disappointed to not see Lescott join him at Wolves, he would have completely understood the reasoning.
After all, his move back to the Old Gold was also based on familial reasons.
Edwards received a lot of stick for leaving Middlesbrough, but the chance to work for a club he loves and one that is closer to his family was too hard to turn down.
When Wolves came calling, the decision was clear for Rob Edwards
On the other side, for Lescott, moving further away from his family was a bigger net negative than the positives of being a Wolves coach would bring.