Wolves will target Nottingham Forest's Sabri Lamouchi as their first choice to replace current manager Nuno Espirito Santo, a report from The Sun on Sunday (1/12, p67) has claimed.
Santo took charge of Wolves in the summer of 2017, guiding them to promotion back to the Premier League as Championship title winners during his first season at Molineux, before securing a Europa League spot in the club's first campaign back in top-flight last season.
It has recently been reported that Arsenal are considering a move for the Wolves boss following the sacking of Unai Emery on Friday, and it appears Wolves are already preparing themselves for such interest.
According to the latest reports from the Sun on Sunday, the Midlands side have already identified Lamouchi as this ideal replacement for Nuno, with the Forest boss said to be drawing plenty of admiration from the top-flight for his work with the Championship side.
Lamouchi only took over at the City Ground in the summer, but has already guided Forest to fourth in the Championship standings, although their 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff on Saturday does mean they are seven points adrift of the automatic promotion spots, albeit with a game in hand.
Wolves meanwhile would go fifth in the Premier League with a win at home to Sheffield United on Sunday, and have already secured a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League following a 3-3 draw with Portuguese side Braga on Thursday night.
The Verdict
You can certainly understand why Lamouchi is attracting such interest.
Whereas many before him have struggled to make an impact at the City Ground, Lamouchi has certainly hit the ground running with Forest this year, putting them well in contention for a promotion spot in the early standings.
That may well work in Forest's favour here, since Lamouchi may well be tempted to look to see through the job he is currently doing with the club, by getting them promoted to the Premier League this season.
If Forest are unable to secure such a promotion however, then you have to wonder whether they may have to brace themselves for yet more interest in Lamouchi from elsewhere come the summer.