Premier League club West Ham United hire Julen Lopetegui as new manager

NEW DELHI: Former Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui has been named the new head coach of West Ham United, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.
Lopetegui will assume his role at the London club on July 1, succeeding David Moyes, who departed earlier this month. The Hammers concluded the season in ninth place, accumulating 52 points and narrowly missing out on securing a spot in European competitions for the upcoming season.
In a statement, the 57-year-old Lopetegui expressed his aspirations as a coach, stating, "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."
He further emphasized his commitment to the club, adding, "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 our commitment is 100 per cent to be here."
Lopetegui's playing career included stints at Barcelona and Real Madrid, although he primarily featured for Logrones and Rayo Vallecano. His coaching journey began within Spain's youth setup before taking on roles at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish second division and Portuguese side Porto.
However, his most notable achievements in club management came during his three-year tenure at Sevilla, where he guided the LaLiga team to victory in the 2020 Europa League.
(Inputs from Reuters)