A day after parting ways with Julen Lopetegui, the club has announced Graham Potter as head coach for their first team.
Julen Lopetegui joined the club at the beginning of the season but could not produce the results expected of him.
In a post shared via social media on January 9, 2024, the club announced “West Ham United is delighted to welcome Graham Potter as the Club’s new Head Coach”.
The 49-year-old joins the Hammers on a two-and-a-half year contract and will take charge of his new team for the first time when the Irons travel to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Friday evening.
Speaking to the club’s media, Graham Potter is reported to have said ““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.”
