Premier League side West Ham announced the hiring of former Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach. Lopetegui will replace David Moyes, who departed the club after his contract expired.
Lopetegui will sign a two-year deal with West Ham that includes a club option for one more season.
West Ham announced in early May that the club and Moyes decided to go their separate ways after the end of the 2023-24 season. The London club has since been linked with a number of candidates, including highly-touted Sporting CP manager Rúben Amorim, but ended up deciding on Lopetegui due to his impressive resume.
During his managerial career, Julen Lopetegui coached Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Wolverhampton Wanderers while also serving as the head coach of Spain’sSpain’s national team. His most recent job was with the Wolves, whom he guided from the brink of relegation to 13th place in the Premier League in the 2022-23 season before leaving the club due to a perceived lack of ambition.
Before taking over West Ham, Lopetegui was also linked with Seria A side AC Milan and Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich.
“I am where I want to be,” said Lopetegui in a club-released statement. “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% 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.”
