By Wayne Veysey

19th Sep, 2023 | 8:48am

Sources: Luton boss Rob Edwards was in contention to take over at Wolves

Luton Town manager Rob Edwards was a leading contender to take over at Wolves when Julen Lopetegui quit on the eve of the new season, sources have told Football Insider.

The Midlands club announced the Spaniard’s departure on 8 August and appointed Gary O’Neil the following day as his replacement.

It can be revealed that former Wolves defender Edwards was the main rival to O’Neil for the coveted Premier League post and he was sounded out to take over at Molineux.

But Wolves abandoned their pursuit given the hurdles in poaching from a rival top-flight club days before the new season was due to begin.

The 40-year-old took over at Luton last November and guided them to promotion via the play-offs in a memorable debut campaign.

He has strong Wolves credentials, spending four years at the club as a player and started his coaching career managing the club’s youth teams.

Edwards also had a two-match stint as Wolves interim manager when Walter Zenga was sacked in October 2016.

He took his first permanent senior role at AFC Telford in 2017, before moving on to Forest Green Rovers, Watford – and then Luton.

The ex-Wales international has won 18 of his 37 games in charge of the Hatters – who have been widely tipped to suffer relegation back to the Championship this term.

Luton have picked up zero points from their first four top-flight games this term ahead of their next test against Wolves on Saturday (23 September).

The Molineux club have managed a solitary win over Everton this season and sit 16th in the table with three points.

In other news, major update on Premier League manager facing the sack.