Rubén Sellés

Rubén Sellés Salvador (born 15 June 1983) is a Spanish professional football manager who is the head coach of League One club Reading.

Sellés has also managed Southampton in the Premier League and the Valencia Under-18 team. With coaching experience in Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Spain and England, Sellés has a Master's degree in Sports & Physiology from the University of Valencia, and graduated from UEFA's Pro Licence programme aged 25.

Career

Early career

Born in Marxalenes, a neighborhood in Valencia, Sellés played for local side Parreta CF before finishing his formation with Burjassot. At the age of 16, he was already coaching the youth sides of Parreta. In 2002, after finishing his formation, Sellés entered the University of Valencia and became a coach of the club's football team; he led the club to a promotion from the Segunda Regional in their first senior season, and kept the club in the Primera Regional in the following campaigns.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Sellés joined a host of compatriots at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki, being an assistant fitness coach. He departed in 2009 to perform a similar role for the ''Juvenil'' squad of Villarreal.

In 2010, Sellés travelled to Russia, acting as assistant manager to Igor Lediakhov at Shinnik Yaroslavl. He later worked as Óscar Fernández's assistant at Asteras Tripolis and Gandía, before joining Neftçi; he remained an assistant manager there for two seasons, under managers Boyukagha Hajiyev, Arif Asadov, Nazim Suleymanov and Tarlan Ahmadov.

Sellés moved to Norwegian club Strømsgodset in 2015, working as Chief Data Analyst, before returning to Azerbaijan as an assistant of Gurban Gurbanov at Qarabağ. In July 2018, he joined Danish club Aarhus, assisting manager David Nielsen for two seasons.

In July 2020, Sellés returned to his hometown after being appointed manager of Valencia's ''Juvenil B'' squad. On 1 January 2021, he returned to Denmark and joined Copenhagen as assistant manager to Jess Thorup.

Southampton

On 10 June 2022, Sellés departed Copenhagen to join Premier League club Southampton, as assistant to Ralph Hasenhüttl. On 7 November, Hasenhüttl was sacked by Southampton, and Sellés was placed in caretaker charge of the club. Sellés took charge of one match for ''The Saints'' before the appointment of new manager Nathan Jones, a 1–1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Cup on 9 November – in which Southampton advanced to the next round after a penalty shootout.

He again took temporary charge of the team after Jones was sacked in February 2023. His first game in charge was a 1–0 away victory over Chelsea. On 24 February, Sellés was appointed manager until the end of the 2022–23 season. On 24 May 2023, Southampton confirmed that they would not renew his contract when it expired at the end of the season. On 28 May 2023, Sellés managed his final game at Southampton; a 4–4 draw against Liverpool on the final day of the 2022–23 Premier League season. In his three months in charge, he oversaw the relegation of Southampton to the EFL Championship, having won just two games in 17 matches.

Reading

On 26 June 2023, Reading announced an agreement with Sellés to become their new first team manager, subject to a successful work visa application. On 14 July 2023, Reading confirmed the appointment of Spaniard as the club's first team manager after his visa application was successful. His first professional game in charge was a 0–1 defeat to Peterborough; his first victory came in the following match when Reading beat Millwall 0–4 away in the EFL Cup.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellés, Rubén
1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Valencia
Association football coaches
Spanish football managers
Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol managers
Premier League managers
Southampton F.C. managers
Villarreal CF non-playing staff
Reading F.C. managers
Aris Thessaloniki F.C. non-playing staff
Strømsgodset Toppfotball non-playing staff
Aarhus Gymnastikforening non-playing staff
Valencia CF non-playing staff
F.C. Copenhagen non-playing staff
Southampton F.C. non-playing staff
University of Valencia alumni
Spanish expatriate football managers
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Norway
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Expatriate association football managers
Expatriate football managers in England