Out of work manager Julen Lopetegui will sign a 3-year deal to become the new manager of West Ham according to a new report.
It is now being widely claimed that David Moyes will leave West Ham when his contract expires next month.
Particularly in light of West Ham’s dismal 5-2 thrashing at Crystal Palace.
A host of managers have been linked as potential replacements from Marco Silva to Maurizio Sarri, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
But it seems one manager who has been keeping his options open for some time is set to be named West Ham’s new manager.
Hammers move for out of work Lopetegui?
Journalist Matt Law of the Telegraph stated in February that former Wolves manager Julien Lopetegui made a pitch to West Ham’s owners to succeed Moyes.
In the hopes of getting hired again for a Premier League position, former Spain, Real Madrid, and Sevilla manager Lopetegui has maintained his residence in the UK.
Now, he’s set to accomplish precisely that with the Hammers, based on sources originating from Italy.
It is possible that many West Ham supporters are not impressed by the rumored plan to name free agent Lopetegui. They appear to be not alone, too.
According to reports over the past week, Lopetegui has decided to take over as manager of AC Milan for the upcoming campaign.
But, Lopetegui rejects the Italian team’s pleas for a three-year contract, leaving the supporters “relieved.”
Fans of club ‘relieved’ as Lopetegui snubs them for West Ham
According to TuttoMercatoWeb overnight, Milan’s next manager will not be Lopetegui as he is ‘one step away from joining West Ham’.
According to the source, Lopetegui is ready to sign a three-year contract, and the Hammers will part company with Moyes.
The identical claims are also being reported by Sempre Milan. Additionally, the website says that the news has greatly eased Milan fans.
According to the source, “the majority of Milan supporters will probably be relieved by this news as the initial rumors of Lopetegui replacing Pioli weren’t exactly met with great excitement.”
“The Rossoneri’s search is still ongoing, so it’s possible that some candidates haven’t been made public yet.”
Following the February Telegraph report that West Ham was considering Lopetegui, Sami Mokbel of The Daily Mail also revealed that Lopetegui was one of four players the owners had “started sounding out.”
An underwhelming successor?
Compared to Moyes’s 42% career win record, Lopetegui boasts an amazing over 57% victory ratio. Despite this, the Hammers manager has overseen almost three times as many games.
Nevertheless, in his most recent position at Wolves, the supposed West Ham target had a win percentage of just 37%. Throughout his 27 games in command, he had a -10 goal differential, winning 10, losing 11, and drawing six.
Additionally, he has a habit of quitting jobs after agreeing to join Real Madrid while leading Spain in a significant competition after leaving Wolves.
Thus, it is understandable why many Hammers supporters and Milan fans alike are not overly enthusiastic.
Supporters of West Ham United are expecting that the team would choose a progressive manager with a totally different mindset.
When Lopetegui was last connected to West Ham, a close friend of Moyes’s stated he already had four elite La Liga players on his shortlist that he was hoping to sign with his next team.
