UK
West Ham confirm David Moyes to leave when contract expires this summer
West Ham have confirmed David Moyes will leave when his contract expires this summer.
He is set to be replaced by Spaniard Julen Lopetegui at the end of the season, Sky Sports News understands.
Moyes, 61, has faced increased questions about his future amid a rut of poor form, as his team have won only one of their previous nine league games.
However, he led the Hammers to their first European triumph in decades, making history at the London club.
Lopetegui, 57, has been out of work since leaving Wolves three days before the start of the season but has stayed in England in the hope of landing another job in the Premier League.
The Spaniard, who has also managed Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla, looks set to take charge at the London Stadium at the end of the season after Moyes’s departure.
West Ham are ninth in the league after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Julen Lopetegui. File pic: PA
West Ham United manager David Moyes during the Premier League defeat at Chelsea. Pic PA
As part of the announcement, Moyes said: “I have enjoyed four and a half brilliant years at West Ham, and the club is in a stronger position than when I returned back in 2019.
“I would like to thank all the players for their support, and all the success they have achieved, over the last four and a half years.
“I have really enjoyed working with everyone at West Ham, and I would like to thank the board for giving me the opportunity to manage this great club.
“I wish my eventual successor, the directors, the players, the staff, the fans, and everybody at West Ham, all the very best for the future.”
Joint-chairman David Sullivan said: “On behalf of everyone at West Ham United, I would like to offer our sincere thanks and gratitude to David for the contribution he has made to the football club during his time as manager.
“David has been responsible for a period of great progress and success in our history, and we are extremely grateful for all of his hard work, commitment and dedication to the role.”
He added that the announcement was made ahead of the end of the season to ensure that fans could say goodbye to Moyes in their final home game against Luton Town on Saturday.
The Scot, whose second spell as Hammers boss began in 2019, led the club to a sixth-placed finish in the 2020/21 season.
The following year they finished seventh and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.
They went one better last season, winning the Europa Conference League final, the club’s first European trophy since 1965.
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