Xisco Munoz named as new Sheffield Wednesday manager

The 42-year-old Spaniard will be presented to the media on Wednesday after agreeing to replace Darren Moore.

The Owls are back in next season’s Championship and Munoz has experience of winning promotion from it, taking Watford up in 2020-21 after becoming coach midway through the campaign.

Hornets managers are notoriously short-lived and he was sacked in November 2021 after 36 games in charge, winning 21 of them.

Munoz was an accomplished winger in his day, winning La Liga and the UEFA Cup at Valencia.

He began his managerial career with Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi in 2020, winning the league title in his debut season before moving to Vicarage Road.

Since then he has managed Spanish side Huesca and Cypriot outfit Anorthosis. He had 30 games with the former and his three-month stint with the latter ended when he was sacked in June after ending the season with five winless matches.

Munoz has been named as “first-team manager” rather than coach and his first job will be to kick-start a recruitment process which is yet to get going after promotion.

The Owls have only 17 senior players registered at present and one of them, Dominic Iorfa, is said to be interesting Champions League side Dinamo Zagreb.

Wednesday opposed measures to increase the number of substitutes in Championship football next season but were outvoted, meaning clubs will be allowed 20-man matchday squads in line with the Premier League.

The Owls won promotion via the League One play-offs after two seasons in the third tier. They beat Barnsley 1-0 courtesy of Josh Windass’s header in stoppage time of extra-time of the final at Wembley.

Wednesday’s first pre-season match is at York City on Saturday and they kick off the new Championship season with a televised home game against Southampton on August 4.