By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
West Ham United have finally confirmed Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach after parting ways with David Moyes, who departed his role at the London Stadium “by mutual consent” after his contract expired.
The Spaniard, who has been out of work since leaving Wolves last summer, has signed a two-year contract with the option of an extra year.
The 57-year-old will work closely with technical director Tim Steidten – who will have more control over the recruitment. When Moyes was reappointed in 2019, it was under the proviso that he would have a big say in recruitment and transfers.
“I feel very happy, first of all, to be able to be part of the future of this big club,” he said.
“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.”
Earlier this month, West Ham confirmed Moyes, who took over for his second spell at the club in December 2019 and won the Europa Conference League in 2023, would leave at the end of the season.
The 61-year-old Scot had come under increasing pressure after a poor run of results which saw the Hammers finish ninth in the Premier League and miss out on a fourth successive season in Europe.
Lopetegui will officially begin his role on 1 July for the start of pre-season, which includes a two-week trip to the United States for matches against Crystal Palace and Wolves.
“I feel that we have a fantastic platform,” Lopetegui added.
“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.”
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.”
The former Spain and Real Madrid coach won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2020, before moving to Molineux in November 2022 when Wolves were bottom of the Premier League.