Wolves Sack Rob Edwards as Peixoto Set to Take Over
Wolverhampton Wanderers have sacked Rob Edwards in a stunning move that cuts across their own summer rebuild and clears the way for Portuguese coach Cesar Peixoto to take charge.
Edwards was informed of the decision by the Wolves hierarchy despite playing a central role in landing marquee signings Kieran Trippier and Raúl Jiménez in recent weeks. He had been at the heart of the club’s transfer planning, shaping both recruitment and culture after last season’s relegation from the Premier League.
Peixoto, represented by the Jorge Mendes-owned Gestifute agency, is now on the brink of being appointed. The 44-year-old has only coached in Portugal, most notably with Gil Vicente, yet finds the door to English football opening through long-standing links between Mendes and Wolves’ owners, Fosun.
This is not a gentle course correction. It is a jolt.
From rebuilding architect to the exit door
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League last season, a campaign that saw Vitor Pereira dismissed in November and Edwards brought in with a clear, unglamorous brief: steady the ship, accept the likely relegation, and construct a side capable of climbing back out of the Championship.
Wolves paid Middlesbrough £4 million to prise Edwards away from the Riverside, where he had them sitting at the top of the Championship table. It was a statement investment in a manager they viewed as the architect of a long-term rebuild.
He did not walk into Molineux as a short-term firefighter. He arrived as the man entrusted with the next chapter.
Inside the club, Edwards quickly forged a close working relationship with technical director Matt Jackson. Together they set about reshaping the squad with a clear emphasis on British talent, a push designed to strengthen the home-grown quota and rebalance a dressing room that had leaned heavily on overseas signings for years.
Recruitment meetings, cultural reset sessions, detailed planning for life in the Championship — Edwards was at the centre of it all. Which is why this decision lands like a thunderclap.
New signings, new optimism – and then the rug pulled
The timing is brutal. Only two days ago, Wolves unveiled Jiménez’s return with a glossy “Welcome Home” video on social media. Edwards featured in it, smiling and front and centre, the manager presented as a key figure in the Mexican’s comeback story.
Trippier, unveiled on Wednesday, spoke openly about Edwards’ influence on his decision to join. In his first club interview, the England international highlighted the manager’s presence as a major factor, echoing what insiders had been saying for weeks: that Edwards was driving a cultural shift at Compton and Molineux, demanding higher standards and a tighter, more unified dressing room.
Those signings were supposed to signal a new, optimistic era under a manager given the tools to take Wolves back up. Instead, the coach who helped convince them to sign has been shown the door before a ball is kicked in the new campaign.
The shock decision threatens to puncture the surge of positivity that had started to build among players and staff. Momentum, so hard to generate after relegation, has been checked in an instant.
Mendes influence looms large again
While Edwards fronted the rebuild in public, a different plan was being drawn up in the background.
Jorge Mendes and his associate Valdir Cardoso, whose relationship with Fosun dates back to the 2016 takeover, have been working behind the scenes on a deal to install Peixoto ahead of the new season. Their influence at Wolves has never truly faded, even during periods when the club attempted to present a more independent football structure.
As Edwards spoke about culture and continuity, the foundations were already shifting under his feet.
Peixoto’s coaching résumé is modest compared with some of his Portuguese predecessors at Molineux, and he has yet to manage outside his home country. What he does have is the backing of Gestifute and a direct line into an ownership group that has repeatedly turned to Mendes’ stable at key moments in the club’s recent history.
For Edwards, the brutal reality is that the power lines at Wolves have not changed as much as his appointment once suggested.
The club now stands on the brink of another reset: a new Portuguese head coach, a squad built partly to his predecessor’s specifications, and a fanbase left to wonder what, exactly, this latest swerve says about the direction of the Fosun era.
