Calm down with all the excitement West Ham United fans, because Stan Collymore has warned us all about Julen Lopetegui…sigh.
Stan Collymore is hardly a beacon of footballing knowledge, and I for one will be taking his comments on new West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui with a pinch of salt.
Lopetegui is currently trying his best to bolster his squad, with the likes of Luis Guilherme, Jota Silva and Wes Foderingham seemingly close to joining the Hammers.
Much is expected of the Spaniard at the London Stadium. We’ve already told you about Jack Sullivan’s comments on David Moyes, and how he was moved on because the board thought a fresh change was needed.
Lopetegui has allegedly been given the remit of getting West Ham back into the top six, and he is allegedly eyeing up moves for defenders and a centre-forward in order to help him achieve that goal.
I believe the ex-Wolves boss will implement a far more exciting playing style at the London Stadium than Moyes ever did.
However, Collymore has noticed a potentially very big problem with the 57-year-old…
Stan Collymore cynically refutes big Julen Lopetegui claim
Lopetegui is the man we need right now to take us to another level in my opinion.
He is incredibly driven, ambitious and has the contacts needed to bring in some top players this summer.
Collymore is just not sure that he’s the man for the job at the London Stadium though.
The controversial football pundit questioned Lopetegui’s integrity as a person, before doubting the veracity of a big claim made about the Hammers boss, when writing his column for Caught Offside.
Collymore said, “I’m just not convinced about him as a person. If you look at Wolves he was there for a year, if you look at Seville – three years, Real Madrid – he barely walked into the club before he was out again, Spain – a couple of years, Porto – a couple of years… if West Ham are looking to get into the Champions League, it’s a three, four or five year project, and he hasn’t stayed at a club for anywhere near that.”
He went on to say, “So the question is, what’s in it for him? A massive payday. Is he particularly loyal? Wolves fans will say no. If he has a good season and let’s say do what Villa did last season, does anybody honestly think that if Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich came in for him that he’d still be at West Ham?”
I think this is well wide of the mark from Stan.
Lopetegui left Wolves because of broken promises from the board, and I think that bodes well for us.
He clearly won’t stand for any funny business from David Sullivan when it comes to transfers.
Secondly, the Bayern Munich rumours came from one of the very best sources – David Ornstein.
The Athletic journalist made it very clear that Lopetegui rejected Bayern in favour of taking over at West Ham, and I believe him.
Listen, the Spaniard certainly wasn’t everyone’s first choice to replace Moyes, but he is undoubtedly a huge upgrade on the Scot.
You don’t get given jobs like the Real Madrid and Spain ones if you don’t have something special about you.
Stan Collymore’s comments on Julen Lopetegui will not age well, I’m certain of that.
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