Julen Lopetegui returns to the Premier League with West Ham United. The Basque coach, despite receiving offers from several clubs, wanted to return to coaching in the English league, after leaving Wolverhampton prematurely.
The 57-year-old coach, who was close to joining Milan before the Rossoneri fans backed off his signing, has been ambitious with this new step in his career: “My ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, achieve more and greater goals, and encourage and improve the players, the team, and compete, because that’s what football is about: competing. We are very ambitious in this”, he announced on the London club’s social networks.
Likewise, Lopetegui, who signs until 2026, according to Relevo, has indicated that he had more offers, but West Ham’s proposal was irrefutable: “I am where I want to be. I’m here because I want to be here and it was a fantastic day for us when we closed our deal. We had other opportunities, but I am very happy that West Ham chose me because I also chose West Ham,” he declared.
The London team has failed to qualify for Europe this season, after finishing in ninth position under David Moyes. However, Lopetegui will have a competitive squad that already knows what it means to win a title, as the Hammers won the Conference League last season.
With the return of the former Real Madrid coach, the Premier League once again has five Spanish coaches, four of them Basque: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Unai Emery (Aston Villa), Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth) and Lopetegui himself.