‘Prefer to wait’… 57-year-old manager linked with Nottingham Forest says he’s already turned down two offers

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Nottingham Forest-linked manager Julen Lopetegui has claimed that he’s already turned offers down from across the world. The Reds are currently weighing up whether or not to sack Steve Cooper.

Lopetegui took over at Wolves when they were bottom of the Premier League last season. He led them to safety at a canter but then chose to leave his position on the eve of the new campaign.

Now, he’s ready to get back into work and is still living in Wolverhampton at present. However, he’s not going to just walk into the first available job and that might not be good news for Forest if they fancy Lopetegui.

Forest-linked Lopetegui has turned down offers

The 57-year-old has managed Real Madrid, the Spain national team and has won the Europa League with Sevilla. He would be a strong appointment but he’s going to pick his next role carefully.

Lopetegui has been linked with a move to Forest, with Evangelos Marinakis thought to be a big fan of the manager. However, he’s going to bide his time it would seem.

He told Sky Sports News: “I have had different offers from different countries and for different reasons I prefer to wait for the right moment. I think that is the right situation and in football, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow.

“It’s true that I have said no to some different offers in different countries. I prefer to wait until the moment that I feel is the right moment. I would like to stick here and we want to achieve our dreams and our aims here The way people follow football here it is special.”

Lopetegui would be ideal for City Ground role

The Spanish coach is a born-winner and his fire-fighting role at Wolves last season would make him perfect for Forest. However, it would seem that he’s got other ideas.

Lopetegui is a solid manager and many at Forest would view him as an upgrade to Cooper should he leave. The same can’t be said about Nuno Espirito Santo who has been linked in the last 24 hours.

There’s no surprise that Lopetegui is keen to wait for his next managerial position. He will feel that his CV should command him getting a big job and perhaps he views Forest as small fry.

Given the fan backlash to the Espirito Santo links, perhaps Forest owner Marinakis will consider making one final call to Lopetegui in the coming days.