Julen Lopetegui excited about 'big potential' as new West Ham era begins

Julen Lopetegui is refusing to put limits on what he can achieve at West Ham.

The Spaniard has been hired by the Hammers this summer after the club parted ways with David Moyes at the end of last season.

Lopetegui comes with an impressive CV, having coached Real Madrid, Spain and led Sevilla to the Europa League title.

Most recently, the 57-year-old kept Wolves in the Premier League during the 2022-23 season and he is hungry for success at West Ham.

“I don’t want to put limits,” said Lopetegui, when asked about his aims.

“I always say that you can dream, but you have to work very hard to achieve your dreams. This is what we are going to do.

“We know the difficulties we are going to have, for sure. We are talking about the best competition in the world - the best team, the best coaches - but we believe in us. We don’t put limits in our minds in this moment.

“I am very happy to be here and I see a lot of friends here that I knew before. I have a lot of reasons to be here.

“The first is that I am where I want to be. I am in a big club. I am, in my opinion, in the London club.

“I think we are on club with a big potential. You can look at the pitch, the stadium, the fans that we have.

“I think that we have a very good platform - talking about the squad, the team and the players - to be able to do one step and to make a big noise. That is the aim that we want to make here.

“That’s why I have a lot of reasons to say yes to West Ham. I am very happy.”

Lopetegui spent nearly a year out of work after leaving Wolves at the start of last season and he has revealed his desire was always to get another job in the Premier League.

“I always said the same that my first thought, after my first experience in England, was to be here and to continue in the Premier League,” he said.

“That’s why I stayed a lot of time in England, knowing more about the English culture, football, each week and I have seen a lot of matches in the Premier League, because our aim was very clear that we wanted to stay here and to continue here because we have a big motivation to follow here, to continue here in the Premier League.

“I had it very clear that my first aim was to stay here.”