Jorge Sampaoli was in the last hours one step away from finalizing his return to Seville to replace Julen Lopeteguihighly questioned by the weak news of the team both in LaLiga de España and in the Champions League.
Next Wednesday’s game against Borussia Dortmund could be key for Lopetegui’s future, as the Sevillians are in last place in Group G with just one point.
There would be a factor that could facilitate and even hasten Sampaoli’s return, and that is the fact that Lopetegui received an interesting offer from Wolverhampton to lead in the Premier League, something that greatly appeals to him.
The problems to be resolved in the middle of both negotiations, the departure of one and the arrival of the other, obviously have to do with economic reasons, since it would not be the same if Lopetegui wanted to leave than to be fired.
Meanwhile Sampaoli, 62, who has just managed Olympique Marseille with success, being second to Paris Saint Germain in the French league, requested as main conditions for his return the arming of his coaching staff and the setting of coherent objectives Depending on the squad it has, among its players are several Argentines such as Alejandro Gómez, Gonzalo Montiel and Erik Lamela.
In La Liga the Sevillian team is in the 16th. position with 5 points obtained out of 21 possible and for this reason, as revealed by the Spanish newspaper Marca, is that several days ago the directors began the steps to reinstate a Sampaoli that he already directed with good success also in the 2016-2017 seasonwhen it ranked fourth, qualifying for the Champions League, with 21 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses.
In that step Sampaoli, born in the Santa Fe town of Casilda on March 13, 1960, terminated the contract to take over the technical direction of the Argentine National Teamthe only place in his professional career in which he was not successful, since before and after his work at the University of Chile and the national team of that country (he achieved the first Copa América in its history), Santos and Atlético Minairo, from Brazil.
HOME PHOTO: CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP
