West Ham sack boss after 20 league games… as Potter ‘signs two-and-a-half year deal’

West Ham have sacked manager Julen Lopetegui after six months in charge following nine defeats and six wins in their first 20 games of the Premier League season.

The Hammers had a net spend of £85.2 million during the summer but are 14th after their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday, seven points above the relegation zone.

“The first half of the 2024/25 season has not aligned with the club’s ambitions,” a West Ham statement said, adding that they have acted to meet their “objectives”.

A 5-0 defeat against Liverpool on December 29 extended their poor home form to one win in five matches, having started the campaign with three successive losses at London Stadium.

West Ham United can confirm that Head Coach Julen Lopetegui has today left the Club.

— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 8, 2025

Next West Ham manager: Graham Potter?

Graham Potter is widely expected to succeed Lopetegui, with The Athletic reporting that the former Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Swansea City manager has agreed a two-and-a-half year deal and will be in charge for the FA Cup third round tie at Aston Villa on Friday (8pm GMT).

Englishman Potter, who is the considerable odds-on favourite with bookmakers, reinvented Brighton’s style over three years and lifted The Seagulls to fourth in the table after six league games in 2022/23, only for his switch to Chelsea to end after less than seven months, including 11 defeats in 31 matches.

The Hammers return to Premier League action at home to ninth-placed Fulham on January 14 (7.30pm) before the visit of 15th-placed Crystal Palace four days later (4pm).

Potter’s first league away game in charge could also be at eighth-placed Villa on January 26 (4.30pm).

BREAKING: West Ham United have officially confirmed they’ve sacked Julen Lopetegui as head coach 🚨 pic.twitter.com/bU7uSveVEL

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 8, 2025

Lopetegui sacked

Lopetegui’s scheduled press conference on Wednesday was cancelled before the 58-year-old took training in preparation for the trip to Villa Park.

Assistant manager Pablo Sanz, head of performance Oscar Caro, head analyst Juan Vicente Peinado, fitness coach Borja De Alba and technical coach Edu Rubio have also left West Ham.

The Spaniard, whose career includes spells as manager of Spain, Real Madrid, Porto, Wolves and Sevilla, was named as David Moyes’ replacement in May but soon came under pressure.

Moyes won West Ham’s first European trophy since 1965 by lifting the 2022/23 Conference League as part of a second spell at the helm lasting four-and-a-half years.