Wolves have made Queens Park Rangers man Michael Beale their number one target to come in as the replacement for Bruno Lage, who was sacked by the club earlier this month, confirms The Athletic’s David Ornstein. The club are loitering in a relegation battle in the Premier League and are desperate to solve their manager situation quickly.
Wolves Make Michael Beale Number One Target to Replace Bruno Lage
🚨 EXCL: Wolves have made Michael Beale 1st choice to become next boss. #WWFC expected to move fast & contact anticipated between clubs to discuss release. Would be seen as a progressive, exciting appointment + break from previous mould @TheAthleticUK #QPR https://t.co/gVmQouJ0GG
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) October 19, 2022
QPR Anticipating Contact to Discuss Beale’s Potential Release
After identifying the 42-year-old manager as the ideal person to lead the team after the departure of Lage, Wolves are hoping to move quickly to get a deal finalised. Championship leaders QPR are now anticipating contact from the Premier League club over the potential release of Beale – but no contact has been made between the two sides yet.
The English manager’s contract has a release clause inserted into it, something that Wolves are well aware of. The Midlands club have done thorough research on the 42-year-old’s work as a manager and have been very impressed with what they’ve seen so far.
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He is going to be seen as a progressive appointment and one which Wolves are hoping will break the mould of the more grounded managers they have hired in the past years. Beale only took over at QPR in June but he has a pretty impressive history in football management.
🚨 QPR head coach Michael Beale is Wolves' number 1 choice to become their new manager.
(Source: @David_Ornstein) pic.twitter.com/46E4dqQoKP
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) October 19, 2022
Beale’s Connections With Steven Gerrard
After being forced to retire at the age of 21, Beale took quickly to football management. He took up the opportunity of being a coach in Chelsea’s U7s and U9s teams in 2002. He left the club after Roman Abramovich took over in 2003 and went on to join Liverpool, where he initially worked as an assistant coach for their U16 side before working with the U23 players.
It was at Liverpool that he started to interact and work alongside Steven Gerrard, who worked with their youth teams after retiring as well. Beale had a short spell as an assistant manager at Sao Paulo in 2017, before returning to Europe when Gerrard offered him the chance to be his assistant manager at Rangers.
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The 42-year-old was a key member of the ex-Liverpool captain’s coaching staff and helped the Scottish side enjoy success, winning the Scottish Premiership in the 2020/21 season over Celtic. Beale moved to Aston Villa with Gerrard in 2021, working one season as his assistant.
He decided to go it alone in the summer, accepting QPR’s offer to be their next manager in the summer. Beale has helped QPR win eight out of their first 15 games and got them up to fight for promotion by leading the table. But they could end up losing the manager soon, with Wolves hoping to wrap up the deal quickly and for the 42-year-old to be in their dugout before the end of the month.
