23 May 2024 , 10:01
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West Ham have finally confirmed Julen Lopetegui as their new manager, with David Moyes having departed at the end of the season.
Spanish boss Lopetegui, 57, returns to the Premier League less than a year after a spell in charge of Wolves, and takes over a Hammers side which finished ninth in the Premier League and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The former Real Madrid and Barcelona goalkeeper departed Molineux on the eve of the 2023-24 season having grown frustrated with the restrictions placed on him in the transfer market by the Midlands side and took a year out of the game.
During that year, he has turned down approaches from the Saudi Pro League, La Liga and even Bayern Munich. West Ham were convinced to appoint him after receiving strong references from Wolves and having been left impressed with his work with Spain's national team earlier in his managerial career.
“I feel very happy, first of all, to be able to be part of the future of this big Club,” said Lopetegui. “We will try to put our stamp on the Club.
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“I feel that we have a fantastic platform. I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but 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. We are very ambitious about this.
Lopetegui has replaced David Moyes at the helm (West Ham United)“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 we our commitment is 100 per cent to be here.
"We had other opportunities but I am very happy that West Ham chose me because I chose West Ham too, so we are really happy about this.
“We came here with the idea and the thought to make a big, big noise. That's why we came here, and we are excited by this challenge. Of course, we are going to do our best to help the Club and the team to achieve to achieve the best level and to achieve our aims. I assure the fans that they are going to be key in all our achievements.”
Lopetegui has replaced Moyes at West Ham (Wolves via Getty Images)Sporting director Tim Steidten said: “We are very pleased to welcome Julen and his staff to our Club. He was a stand-out candidate to become our Head Coach and I am personally delighted that we have chosen to work together. 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 work in different leagues, in different countries, with national teams, and in each situation he has shown his outstanding qualities. Julen is highly experienced in the way we will now work at West Ham United and I am looking forward to working with him to grow a successful future for the Club.”
Lopetegui went unbeaten during his 20 matches in charge of Spain but was sacked on the eve of the 2018 World Cup after Real Madrid announced they had agreed a deal to appoint him for the 2018-19 season. His time at the Bernabeu was a disaster though, with Los Blancos dismissing him after just 14 games.
He then took charge of Sevilla in 2019, winning the Europa League a year later, before performing a relegation rescue mission with Wolves. The Midlands side were rock-bottom of the top-flight when he took over in November 2022. But he won 10 of his 27 games in charge to eventually secure a 13th-place finish, eight points above the relegation zone.
Moyes, who had two spells as Hammers boss, had been in charge of the club the second time around since December 2019, leading them to lifting the Europa Conference League last season. But a disappointing campaign this term spelled the end for the Scot, with club chiefs deciding against renewing his contract once it expired in the summer.
Though they held talks with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, Lopetegui quickly emerged as the leading candidate.
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Lopetegui has replaced David Moyes, who led West Ham to lifting the Europa Conference League last season (Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Julen Lopetegui a good appointment for West Ham? Comment below.
Speaking after his final game in charge of the Hammers last Sunday, when Manchester City beat them 3-1 to secure the Premier League title, Moyes said: "It is my last game here, but I have not processed yet what exactly it is that I want to do. But what I do know is that I leave West Ham in a better place than when I started.
"If you asked other supporters about what we have done then I would imagine they would say it is pretty good for West Ham! I will miss it but it will not stop me from watching it."
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