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Premier League club West Ham United have announced Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach, replacing David Moyes who left the club upon the expiry of his contract with the Hammers. According to BBC, the former Spain and Real Madrid manager has penned a two-year deal with West Ham, and will take over charge of the East London side from July 1. Ever since the club announced in May 2024, that Moyes had decided to step down from his role at West Ham at the end of the 2023-2024 season, Lopetegui was eyed as the frontrunner to replace the Scottish manager.
The Spaniard has due experience with the pacey nature of the Premier League, having last coached Wolverhampton Wanderers during the 2022-2023 season. West Ham technical director Tim Steidten explained that Lopetegui had always been the club’s target, as their board believes that the 57-year-old can bring success to the club with his tactical brilliance.
“His career shows that, wherever he has coached, he has improved players and teams, and we are looking forward to seeing him work with our squad…Julen lives and breathes football. He thinks deeply about the game, he is tactically astute, and he has shown he can adapt to working in different leagues, in different countries, with national teams, and in each situation he has shown his outstanding qualities,” Steidten said in a statement.
Ever since his abrupt departure from West Ham after just 9 months, Lopetegui has been eager for a return to the Premier League.
“My ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete,” Lopetegui said in a statement.
“I am where I want to be. I am here because I want to be here and for us it was a fantastic day when we closed our agreement here because our commitment is 100 per cent to be here,” Lopetegui added.
Lopetegui as a manager
After his controversial sacking from the Spain national team ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Lopetegui’s career took yet another big blow after he was sacked from his role at Real Madrid after just 14 games in charge. However, the Spaniard found his way back to winning when he was roped in by La Liga club Sevilla.
Lopetegui led Sevilla to the UEFA Champions League in his very first year as manager, and extended the brilliance by leading the side to winning the UEFA Europa League in the very next year.
West Ham might take advantage and rejuvenate the side’s performance, which took a big hit after their 9th place finish in the recently concluded Premier League season.
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