Julen Lopetegui confirmed as West Ham head coach - 'My ambition as a coach is always to be better and better'

Julen Lopetegui has been named the new head coach of West Ham, officially beginning work on July 1.

The 57-year-old Spaniard succeeds David Moyes, who ended a four-and-a-half-year second spell in charge at the end of the season, having won the club's first major trophy in 43 years by landing the Europa Conference League title in 2023.

Lopetegui has been out of football since leaving Wolves on the eve of the 2023/24 season but has an impressive CV, having won the UEFA Europa League with Sevilla in 2020 after a brief time in charge of Real Madrid and two years at the helm of Spain’s national team.

He will be tasked with trying to get West Ham back into Europe following the club’s ninth placed finish in the Premier League.

“I feel that we have a fantastic platform," Lopetegui told West Ham's website.

"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.

“We came here with the idea and the thought to make a big, big noise."

West Ham have not confirmed the length of Lopetegui's contract, but he is bringing in a fresh backroom team after the club announced on Wednesday that first-team coaches Billy McKinlay, Kevin Nolan, John Heitinga and Henry Newman have left, though Xavi Valero has stayed on as goalkeeper coach.

Joining the ex-Spain boss are Pablo Sanz (Assistant Head Coach), Oscar Caro (Head of Performance & Assistant Coach), Juan Vicente Peinado (Head of Analysis & Assistant Coach), Borja De Alba (Fitness Coach) and Edu Rubio (Technical Coach).

“Julen lives and breathes football," said technical director Tim Steidten.

"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."

Lopetegui will link up with his new players when they return for pre-season training in early July, not long after he gets his feet under the table.

He will then lead the club on their tour of the United States, where they will take on his former side Wolves and Crystal Palace.

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