WEST HAM UNITED APPOINTS JULEN LOPETEGUI AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH

West Ham has announced the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach to replace David Moyes.

The Spaniard, who left Wolves on the eve of the most recent Premier League season, will replace David Moyes and officially begin work on July 1.

Lopetegui has previously coached Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla prior to his brief tenure at Molineux.

“I feel very happy, first of all, to be able to be part of the future of this big Club,” Lopetegui told West Ham TV.

“We will try to put our stamp on the club.

“I feel that we have a fantastic platform. I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but 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.”

Lopetegui will be in charge for the Hammers’ pre-season trip to Florida in July, where they take on Wolves and Crystal Palace.

West Ham technical director Tim Steidten said: “We are very pleased to welcome Julen and his staff to our club.

“He was a stand-out candidate to become our head coach and I am personally delighted that we have chosen to work together.”