Wolverhampton Wanderers have sacked Rob Edwards and are on the verge of appointing Portuguese coach Cesar Peixoto.
Edwards, 43, moved to Molineux last November with the club bottom of the Premier League and winless, but he struggled to have an impact as Wolves finished in 20th place after tasting victory in just three league games.
He was widely expected to lead their attempts to return to the Premier League at the first attempt though, and had played a key role in the early statement signings of Raul Jimenez and Kieran Trippier.
However, Edwards is now set to be replaced by Peixoto, who guided Gil Vicente to sixth in the Portuguese top flight in 2025-26.
Peixoto, 46, is represented by the influential agent Jorge Mendes, who has been involved in many dealings with Wolves over the years.
Peixoto, who has managed Moreirense, Pacos Ferreira, Chaves and Varzim in Portugal – along with Academica in Colombia – is viewed as one of the best young managers in his homeland and his appointment is imminent.
Wolves have made the shock decision to sack Rob Edwards and replace him with Cesar Peixoto
Peixoto led Gil Vicente to sixth place in the Portuguese top flight during the 2025-26 season
Wolves had said last night that there was no change to their managerial position despite Portuguese reports saying Peixoto had agreed in principle to become manager after an impressive season at Gil Vicente.
Newspaper A Bola claimed that negotiations had been ongoing for several days and that the 46-year-old is viewed as the ideal coach to take Wolves back to the Premier League.
It is understood that Wolves only rang Edwards to tell him he was being sacked after reports broke on social media of the agreement with Peixoto.
However, the news comes as a major shock given it was anticipated that Edwards would be kept on despite last season’s relegation.
Wolves paid £4million in compensation to Middlesbrough to bring in Edwards in November after they sacked Vitor Pereira at a time where their relegation already seemed inevitable.
In fact, he had been recruited by Wolves on the proviso he would oversee the rebuild to return to the top flight if they did go down.
Edwards’ exit from the Riverside was also controversial at the time given the club were second in the Championship at the time, with the 43-year-old later labelling it as ‘one of the toughest decisions’ of his managerial career.
The former Luton and Boro boss then appeared at a fans forum last month alongside chairman Jeff Shi and technical director Matt Jackson, and the trio provided a united front.
In recent months, Edwards has often spoken about the 2026-27 campaign along with his plans for a major squad overhaul.
He also took part in an interview with in-house channels on Tuesday where he praised the signings of Trippier and Jimenez and outlined how happy he was with the club’s early summer business.
That interview was shared on X by Wolves’ social media account on Wednesday evening.
Edwards said: ‘I have been saying we need to be stronger than what we were last year, and I know it’s not nice for people to hear, but it was just incredibly hard for us just to compete in the Premier League last year, and that’s just the truth.
‘We know things need to improve, and we’re working really hard to try and do that as quickly as possible.
‘The challenge from those above me is that we need to get promoted again, but that same challenge will obviously be going out to West Ham, to Burnley, and there’ll be a lot of others in the mix who will be throwing a lot of money at it, and it’ll make the league really competitive this year, so we know how hard it’s going to be.
On Tuesday, Edwards hailed Wolves’ signings of Raul Jimenez (right) and Kieran Trippier
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‘That’s why we need to be really strong, so with Andre committing (to a new contract), Tripps and now Raul coming in, I think it’s a great start for us, and I know everyone is really pleased, and hopefully they believe more in what we’re trying to do, but there’s a lot more we’ve still got to do and there’ll be more to come.’
He later added: ‘The signings we’re making at the moment will be ticking one box, and there’s more to be done, but then the results and how we start the season is what matters.
‘Over the last few years, we’ve been losing more games than we’ve been winning, and that’s difficult for the fans to go through, but we hope that’s reversed next year, not because it’s the Championship, but because we’ll have done good work, and we’ve earned the right to be at the top end of the league.
‘If we’re getting results and players are working extremely hard and they’re giving everything to the football club, then I’m sure the fans will get right behind us.’
