There will be no more bubbles blown for Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, who fired the Spanish coach on Wednesday and announced Graham Potter as his replacement.
Potter has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract and was unveiled as the club’s new manager at a press conference on Thursday.
Lopetegui oversaw West Ham training Wednesday morning, but the club canceled the manager’s press conference amid buzz that Potter was close to agreeing a deal to take over the Irons. The Irons sit 14th on the Premier League table with 23 points, seven clear of the relegation zone and just as far from ninth place. Consecutive blowout losses to Liverpool and Man City may serve as Lopetegui’s last results for the Irons.
[ MORE: Premier League transfers — January 2025 ins and outs ]
Graham Potter’s arrival works good for everyone involved - Analysis from Joe Prince-Wright
This is one of those moves where you nod your head and say, ‘yeah, this is a great move for both the manager and the club’ and there is a lot to like about this appointment.
Potter is a brilliant coach. Sure, it didn’t work out for him at Chelsea in a huge transitional period for that club under new ownership. But that doesn’t mean he can’t build another fine team like he did at Swansea and Brighton.
He needs to rebuild his reputation and he will be given time to do that at West Ham, who aren’t in danger of going down and for the next few seasons Potter can really stamp his authority and identity on the players. Potter will bring exciting, attacking football to West Ham and he has a very talented squad of players to work with.
Potter has been waiting for the right opportunity and this feels like a very good fit. If all goes well Potter can have West Ham fighting for European qualification over the next few seasons.
🗣️ "I'm really, really excited"
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 9, 2025
Graham Potter’s first words as West Ham Head Coach ⚒️
What is the current situation at West Ham?
West Ham finished three of the last four Premier League season in the top half of the table under David Moyes, winning the Conference League in 2022-23 and twice reaching the Europa League knockout rounds.
The club spent a boatload of money for Lopetegui this summer, bringing in Luis Guilherme, Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug, and Aaron Wan-Biasska, also bringing in Jean-Clair Todibo and Carlos Soler on loan while signing free agents Guido Rodriguez and Wes Foderingham.
Kilman and Wan-Bissaka have been ever-present in the team while Fullkrug has been limited by injury while Guilherme has only played a half-hour in the Premier League.
They rank 15th in expected goals and 17th in xGA, while struggling in open play. The Irons were out-attempted by 40 shots in open play but had a minus-15 goal differential and minus-12.03 xGD.
West Ham statement on Julen Lopetegui
“The first half of the 2024/25 season has not aligned with the Club’s ambitions and the Club has therefore taken action in line with its objectives.
“The Club can confirm that Assistant Head Coach 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 with immediate effect.
“The Board would like to thank Julen and his staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future. The process of appointing a replacement is underway. The Club will be making no further comment at this time.”
What went wrong for Julen Lopetegui at West Ham?
It’s a better question to ask what went right for the 58-year-old Spaniard in East London.
The man who has led Porto, Real Madrid, and the Spanish national team has now flailed in a pair of Premier League campaigns after leading Sevilla to the 2019-20 Europa League.
Lopetegui left Wolves in 2023 after a tumultuous tenure. He was hired in November 2022 with the club in dead last on the Premier League table but turned things around to finish 13th, only to leave in the summer over frustration with the club’s financial ability in the transfer market.
He was hired by West Ham the next summer. The Hammers won in Week 2 at Crystal Palace but did not claim a second Premier League win until October. They went four matches unbeaten from Dec. 9-26 before the losses to Liverpool and Man City.
Graham Potter statement on joining West Ham
“I am delighted to be here. It was important to me that I waited until a job came along that I felt was right for me, and equally that I was the right fit for the Club I am joining. That is the feeling I have with West Ham United.
“My conversations with the Chairman and the Board have been very positive and constructive, we share the same values of hard work and high energy to create the solid foundations that can produce success, and we are on the same wavelength in terms of what is needed in the short-term and then how we want to move the Club forward in the medium to long term.
“West Ham United is a huge Club, at the heart of London, with a tremendous fanbase and great support all around the world. I saw the scenes that followed their Europa Conference League victory in 2023 and it was clear that this is a Club with everything in place to become consistently successful, both on and off the pitch.
“The Club have made a lot of good progress in recent years and ensured there are some very strong foundations in place to build on. You don’t win a European trophy by fluke – there has to be a good bedrock at a football club for that to happen, and the challenge now is to take that on and build the next steps, to develop a team and a Club that the supporters can be proud of.”
Can Graham Potter get more out of West Ham?
Potter took an unorthodox route to the Premier League when his playing career ended in 2005.
He started his managerial run outside the Football League with Leeds Carnegie, then moved to Sweden and led Ostersund from 2011-2018. Potter’s side won promotion in 2015 and won the Swedish Cup in 2016-17. He was back-to-back Swedish Manager of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
His open play style earned him praise in a season at Swansea City, and his star really rose at Brighton from 2019-22. That earned him a big move to Chelsea during the 2022-23 Premier League season, but the Blues cut ties with him in April and Chelsea finished that season with one win, three draws, and six losses to finish 12th.
He’s been careful about choosing a new home.
Brighton were miserable when Potter took over after a 2018-19 season that saw the Seagulls finish two points above the bottom three, conceding more than 200 more shots than they attempted in open play.
The club brought in Leandro Trossard, Neal Maupay, Adam Webster, and Tariq Lamptey that summer, but Potter got more out of Lewis Dunk, Yves Bissouma, Pascal Gross, Davy Propper, and Dan Burn.
The results didn’t improve a lot but performances did as Brighton finished 15th, 16th, and 9th in his three Premier League seasons but were 13th, 5th, and 9th in expected points. The Seagulls almost immediately improved their open play numbers in quite a dramatic fashion.
