The future of Julen Lopetegui may have become a little clearer this morning after an important development.
A former Porto, Sevilla, Real Madrid and Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, the Spaniard has been out of work since leaving the Midlands-based side it’s believed because of an argument over the amount of money available for transfers.
Having also managed the Spanish national team it’s clear that Lopetegui has pedigree, so it stands to reason that he won’t be out of work for too much longer.
Julen Lopetegui to West Ham?
Both AC Milan and West Ham United were rumoured to be potential new destinations of employment with it believed that the 57-year-old favoured a switch to the Serie A giants over the Hammers.
That option, however, would now appear to be no longer open to him.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Fichajes), Milan have discarded his candidacy and are focusing on other potential options.
The Guardian (subscription required) go as far to say that the opposition to his appointment by a section of the club’s supporters is what has forced the Milan hierarchy to get cold feet over appointing Lopetegui.
The same might be said of West Ham’s supporters who thought at one stage that they might be landing highly-regarded Sporting manager, Ruben Amorim.
Five of Lopetegui’s positions in management have lasted 20 games or less, with his most successful period being spent at Sevilla (170 games) per transfermarkt.
A lack of any sort of longevity aside from his spell at Andalusia might set the alarm bells ringing amongst the East London faithful.
He does tend to play an attacking 4-3-3 formation though and that would be manna from heaven for a fan base that have become used to David Moyes’ tepid, safety-first approach.
With Milan now out of the picture, a switch to West Ham seems the most likely scenario, and time will tell if that ends up being the case.