Lopetegui Leading Candidate for Possible Milan Opening

The future of Stefano Pioli on the Milan bench might be decided in the next five days between the return leg against Roma in the Europa League and the Derby, and the brass has been keeping in touch with Julen Lopetegui to replace him, Corriere dello Sport relays.

If the results were negative in both matches, the pendulum would decisively swing toward sacking the manager. Some within their management would like to go in that direction regardless.

Milan director Geoffrey Moncada has had a pair of summits with Lopetegui in recent months. There’s an agreement on principle on a two-year contract.

The coach, who’s currently without a team, is flattered by the courtship of the Serie A giants. He has put other options on stand-by to see it through. He left Wolverhampton right before the start of the season due to divergences about the transfer market stemming from the club’s financial difficulties. They had finished 13^th last season after taking them over in November.

The Spanish gaffer had his most successful run with Sevilla. He also managed Porto, Real Madrid, and La Roja, with mixed results.

Our Take on Milan and Lopetegui

He’s the only candidate repeatedly linked to them, so there’s probably some smoke. Instead, the rumors about Antonio Conte might come from the coach’s camp. They’d have tactical continuity, but the question is whether the upgrade would be big enough to justify a coaching change and everything that comes with it.