West Ham appoint former Sevilla gaffer Julen Lopetegui as new Head Coach

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

London club West Ham United have appointed Spaniard Julen Lopetegui as the Club’s new men’s Head Coach, NRTC can confirm.

Lopetegui has massive experience coaching the Spanish national team and Portuguese giants FC Porto. He has also been in charge of La Liga sides Real Madrid and Sevilla as well as Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The 57-year-old will commence official duties in his new position on 1 July.

ALSO READ:

• Ademola Lookman makes history, leads Atalanta to first UEFA trophy
• FIFA, CAF celebrate Lookman for leading Atalanta to first-ever Europa League title
• Which football managers have been sacked this season?
• NPFL: Sporting Lagos announce appointment of Abdullahi Biffo as new head coach
• Osimhen misses out as Ekong, Aina, Lookman make AFCON 2023 team of the tournament

Lopetegui led Sevilla to UEFA Europa League success in 2020 as his side defeated Inter Milan in the final. He also coached Spain’s U19 team to the European Championship in 2012. The gaffer then guided the U21 side to continental glory the following year.

In a statement on their official website, pWest Ham describes Lopetegui as a coach “widely respected for his clear football philosophy, flexible tactical approach, competitive character and man-management skills.”

Lopetegui is a direct replacement for David Moyes who left the club after the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Speaking to West Ham TV, the Spanish coach confessed he is looking forward to starting work with the players. He expressed his excitement at building on the strong foundations laid down and “bringing his own style to London Stadium.”

“I feel very happy” – Lopetegui

“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.

“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 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.

Lopetegui will be assisted by Pablo Sanz (Assistant Head Coach), and Oscar Caro (Head of Performance & Assistant Coach).

Others include Juan Vicente Peinado (Head of Analysis & Assistant Coach), Borja De Alba (Fitness Coach) and Edu Rubio (Technical Coach). Xavi Valero will continue in his role as men’s first team Goalkeeper Coach.