West Ham United have confirmed the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach.
Earlier this month, reports began to emerge that the Spaniard was interested in becoming the successor to David Moyes, whose contract was due to expire at the end of the season.
The Hammers subsequently confirmed that they have mutually decided to go their separate ways with the Scot, largely due to their poor form since the turn of the year.
That effectively left Lopetegui waiting in the wings to be confirmed as his replacement, with the 57-year-old motivated to take on another role in the Premier League after his short stint with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
On Thursday morning, West Ham officially announced that Lopetegui had arrived at the London Stadium, with his contract beginning on July 1.
Say hello to the new Head Coach of West Ham United 👋⁰
— West Ham United (@WestHam) May 23, 2024
Welcome to London, Julen Lopetegui! ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/2aCO0pY3Km
What has Lopetegui had to say?
Speaking to the club's official website, Lopetegui said: "I feel very happy, first of all, to be able to be part of the future of this big club. We will try to put our stamp on the club.
"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.
"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% 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."
© Reuters
Lopetegui arrives with European, Premier League pedigree
In recent times, Lopetegui is known for his stint with Wolves, choosing to leave Molineux after just 27 matches in charge courtesy of a disagreement over transfers.
Prior to his exit, though, Premier League survival was secured, impressively lifting Wolves off the bottom of the table to finish in 13th position.
Taking over Wolves at that point was somewhat of a risk for a manager who had previously been in charge of the likes of Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla.
His most successful run came with the latter as he lifted the 2019-20 Europa League trophy, as well achieving three fourth-placed finishes in La Liga in a row.
Lopetegui will now be tasked with getting West Ham back into Europe after they ended 2023-24 in ninth position in the Premier League.
Darren Plant
