When Julen Lopetegui arrived at West Ham this summer, supporters of the club could’ve been forgiven for thinking that a decent brand of football was going to arrive at the London Stadium this season.
After the tedious and often boring style of David Moyes had run its course, the Hammers needed a change, and who better to provide it than a man who’d taken charge of the Spanish national team and Real Madrid, to name just two previous appointments.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, things haven’t quite gone to plan.
Lopetegui to get a January surprise
At present, they sit in 13th place in the Premier League on 11 points after nine games. If that weren’t bad enough, the football has been at least as turgid as that which the team played under Moyes – if not worse at times.
Lopetegui’s situation has clearly been made worse by the summer spending spree undertaken by technical director, Tim Steidten.
Fans, perhaps quite naturally, believed that bringing in so many new players was going to transform West Ham’s fortunes, however, they’ve quickly faded and died.
It takes time to bed in new players, and that’s one commodity that Lopetegui doesn’t have.
Now, the real cost of Steidten’s splurge has been unveiled, and it isn’t good news for the manager either.
According to Football Insider, there’s unlikely to be any money to spend in the January transfer window.
For a club that wants to project itself as progressive, they’re still living in the footballing dark ages in many ways.
David Sullivan could’ve hired Ruben Amorim for example – apparently Steidten’s preferred choice as manager – if he’d paid an extra few million pounds in compensation.
Instead, it seems the chairman went for the cheaper option and it’s come back to bite him. Perhaps even quicker than he expected.
If Lopetegui is still in the position come January, he’s going to have to work miracles to ensure West Ham have a successful second part to the 2024/25 campaign.