West Ham Reveals Details of Lopetegui Signing

West Ham United announced on Thursday that they have signed Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui to take over as the team’s head coach.

Lopetegui recently left his position at Wolverhampton and will succeed David Moyes at West Ham, starting his new role at the beginning of July.

Lopetegui said: “My ambition as a coach is always to become better and better, to achieve more and greater goals, to encourage and develop the players and the team, and to compete because football is about competition.”

West Ham reached an agreement with Lopetegui (57 years old) earlier this month, but he preferred to delay the official announcement to allow Moyes to finish the season in peace.

Lopetegui signed a two-year contract with West Ham, with the possibility of extending it for a third season.

The Spanish coach explained: “I am extremely happy, firstly because I have become part of the future of this great club, and we will try to leave our mark on the club.”

The former Spanish goalkeeper Julen Lopetegui began his coaching career in the youth divisions of Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. He then took on his first major managerial role with Porto. Lopetegui was appointed as the head coach of the Spanish national team just before the 2018 World Cup, but he was dismissed prior to the tournament after reaching an agreement to coach Real Madrid.

Lopetegui’s tenure at Real Madrid was brief, lasting only a few months before he was sacked. He then moved to Sevilla, where he won the Europa League. Most recently, Lopetegui led Wolverhampton to an 11th place finish in the 2022-2023 season.