Former Wolves manager Bruno Lage made a shock return to management this week after he was appointed the new boss of Benfica.
Lage was in charge of Wolves between 2020 and 2021 as the club dropped from competing for a Champions League spot to fighting relegation.
Since then, Julen Lopetegui briefly took charge before Gary O’Neil steaded the ship at Molineux after a year of turmoil.
Looking back, many former Wolves managers have struggled to find success since leaving the club, while others have quickly returned to the top flight.
As a result, Molineux News has explored where Wolves’ last five managers are now since leaving the Old Gold.
Walter Zenga
The Italian manager is now without a club once again since leaving Wolves in 2016.
His short stint at Molineux was soon followed by a spell at Crotone where he oversaw the side’s relegation to Serie B.
From here, he went to Venezia where he lasted until 2019 before taking charge at Cagliari where he only lasted 13 games.
The former goalkeeper could then be found at Indonesian side Persita Tangerang where he held a role as Technical Director from 2023-24.
After this, he briefly returned to the dugout to take charge of UAE side Emirates Club in January 2024. However, he only lasted just over 100 days before he left the club.
Paul Lambert
After leaving Wolves in 2017, the former Villa manager made a shock move to the Premier League to take charge of Stoke City.
The Champions League winner only lasted 15 games at the Potters as he oversaw their relegation to the Championship.
His next role was at Ipswich Town. Taking charge in 2018, he was unable to keep the side in the Championship as they fell into League One.
Paul Lambert remained in charge for another season and a half at the Tractor Boys before being sacked in February 2021.
The 55-year-old is yet to find another club.
Nuno Espirito Santo
The most successful manager on this list since leaving Wolves.
After departing the club in 2021, Nuno Espirito Santo quickly found a new job at Spurs.
However, this spell did not last long despite being named the Premier League Manager of the Month in August. Nuno was sacked by Spurs in November 2021 and replaced by Antonio Conte.
After this, Nuno took charge of Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad in 2022. Here, he saw success and won the Saudi Super Cup in 2022 and the Saudi Professional League in the 2022/23 season. However, he was then relieved of his duties in November 2023 after a 2-0 loss in the AFC Champions League.
Nuno then returned to the Premier League and took over struggling Nottingham Forest, leading them to survival in the 2023/24 season.
Bruno Lage
After Lage was sacked by Wolves, he went almost a year without a club until he joined Botafogo in July.
At the Brazilian side, Lage brought in former player Diego Costa after his contract expired at Wolves.
However, after an eight-match winless run, and their elimination from the Copa Sudamericana, Lage was sacked in October 2023.
Recently the Portuguese manager made a shock return to football. Lage was appointed as the Benfica manager in September 2024, the club he had previously managed between 2019-20.
He is now set to manage in the Champions League this season where he faces Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus.
Julen Lopetegui
After Lopetegui left Wolves just before the start of the 2023/24 season, he spent a long time deciding on his new club.
The Spaniard has stayed in England and Lopetegui was regularly linked with a return to the Premier League.
In November 2023, Lopetegui looked to be going to Saudi Arabia to replace Nuno at Al-Ittihad. However, he has since Lopetegui turned down the opportunity to be Nuno’s successor.
Then, after a long wait, Lopetegui returned to the Premier League and joined West Ham as their manager ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.