Staff
Spain
Bio
SPONSORED BY OLIVER COCHRANE
After working as an assistant all over the world, including in Greece, Russia, and Azerbaijan, Sellés took the reins at the Select Car Leasing Stadium ahead of the 2023-24 season after spending three months managing Southampton in the Premier League.
Born in Valencia and a boyhood fan of football at the Mestalla, Sellés finished a master's degree in Sports and Physiology before qualifying for his UEFA Pro Licence at the age of 25.
Rubén soon embarked on a career in coaching the beautiful game, initially in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki but soon returning to his native Spain to take a role with Valencia.
In 2010, Sellés moved to Russia to become no.2 to Igor Lediakhov at Shinnik Yaroslavl and, a year later, he was appointed as assistant manager back in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki.
Silverware came his way during assistant manager roles in Azerbaijan; following a two-year spell in the capital at Neftchi Baku, he went on to work under manager Gurban Gurbanov at Qarabag where he won back-to-back league titles. Between those spells in Azerbaijan, he also worked for a short stint in Norway.
In 2018, the Spaniard joined the Danish club Aarhus as assistant to David Nielsen and, having helped the Whites qualify for Europe, Sellés helped the club achieve its best league finish for more than 20 years.
A stint managing his boyhood club’s Under-18s squad ended when Sellés returned to Scandinavia to stand alongside Jess Thorup in the dugout of FC Copenhagen – and again he achieved success when Copenhagen claimed their first Danish title in three years and qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Conference League.
Last summer, Sellés arrived on UK shores for the first time and settled quickly into Premier League life on the south coast as assistant to Ralph Hasenhüttl at Southampton.
Having made his impact quickly at St Mary’s he was given the caretaker manager role when Hasenhüttl departed in November, presiding over a 1–1 draw and a penalty shootout win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup.
He was entrusted with the manager’s hotseat once more following the exit of Nathan Jones in February and he won his first game at the helm - a 1–0 win over Chelsea coming courtesy of James Ward-Prowse’s winner on the stroke of half-time at Stamford Bridge.
Southampton were already staring at relegation when Rubén took the reins but Sellés was able to record some notable results in charge of the Saints until the end of the campaign - a vital home win over rivals for the drop Leicester City, a valuable point at Old Trafford, come-from-behind high-scoring draws at home to both Spurs and Liverpool and a shock 3-3 clash at the Emirates that derailed Arsenal’s title charge.
However, the inevitable became reality as Southampton's relegation to the Championship was confirmed, with Rubén leaving the club at the end of the season.
After identifying him as the number one target, there was no waiting around from the Royals hierachy to get him involved with the project being built at Bearwood.
He was intially announced as manager on 26 June 2023, albeit subject to a successful visa application. This was soon approved, with Rubén officially taking the reins on 14 July 2023.