Football: Manuel Pellegrini confirmed as new West Ham Manager

Joint chairman on the London club David Sullivan expressed his delight seeing the Chilean at the club. He said:

“I am delighted to welcome Manuel Pellegrini to West Ham United. He is one of the world’s most respected football coaches and we look forward to working with him.

“It was important that we appointed someone with knowledge and experience of the Premier League, who already has an understanding – not only of the teams and players we face – but of West Ham United and our ambitions.

“Manuel brings a reputation for attacking football and getting the best out of his players. We believe he will attract new talent to the London Stadium as well as improving the current squad.

“Above all, he is a winner, who knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level and is driven to continue that success. Manuel is the first West Ham United manager to have a Premier League title on his CV, and we believe that his experience, quality and proven record of taking teams forward quickly will ensure that he is successful here.

“We have listened to fans who asked us to be ambitious. We hope they agree it is an exciting appointment.

“Manuel will shortly announce the names of the new staff he will bring in and he will then get down to shaping the squad he wants. We all wish him the very best of luck.”

Manuel Pellegrini would be looking to embrace a replica of what he achieved during his first spell in England with Manchester City where he spent three years and won the Premier League in 2014 and also won the EFL Cup twice combined with guiding City to their first ever and only Champions League semi-final in 2016, where they were eliminated by current European Champion Real Madrid.

He spent two years in charge of the Chinese Super League team on a huge contract and leaves them in mid-table as the season breaks until after the World Cup. Manuel Pellegrini had been searching for a return to European football and now will be taking a pay cut to return to Europe although it is speculated he will be the highest paid coach in the history of the London Club.

The club have experienced huge problems during their first two seasons after leaving their legendary home at Upton Park resulting to them winning just seven home Premier League games this season, a campaign which was marred by crowd trouble at London Stadium.Five fans were also banned for life by the club for running on to the pitch during their home fixture with Burnley on 10 March among which other fans were also banned for life for throwing coins or objects “with intent to injure or harm”.

The Joint Director Sullivan will be hoping Pellegrini can bring some stability back to the club owning from his vast managerial experience in and outside europe and one of Pellegrini’s first tasks will be to find a new head of recruitment with Malaga’s sporting director Mario Husillos among the candidates.

Pellegrini and the Argentine worked together at Malaga before the 64-year-old arrived at City in 2013.

Leicester’s Eduardo Macia is another option.