talkSPORT host Jim White claims West Ham could now miss out on Julen Lopetegui to a European giant but is it all a ploy?
West Ham have now officially confirmed David Moyes will leave the club at the end of the season.
Reports have abound that Julen Lopetegui has agreed to become just the18th permanent manager in West Ham’s 129-year history.
That’s after AC Milan pulled the plug on a deal six months in the making to name him their boss.
If reports were to be believed in the last couple of weeks, Man United and Bayern Munich have also been considering hiring Lopetegui.
But West Ham are set to make him Moyes’ successor, despite misgivings of some Hammers fans.
Or are they?
The great and the good of football insiders from David Ornstein to Guillem Balague have confirmed Lopetegui will be the club’s new boss.
White claims West Ham could miss out on Lopetegui
However a talkSPORT host is claiming the deal is not so certain.
Jim White claims West Ham could now miss out on Lopetegui to giants Bayern but is it all a ploy?
Lopetegui has been heavily linked with Bayern as they frantically turn from one candidate to the next in search of a replacement for Thomas Tuchel.
Speaking on his show on talkSPORT at lunchtime on Tuesday, White claimed his sources are telling him Lopetegui could yet join the Germans.
“It is our understanding, it is certainly my understanding, that Lopetegui is 80 per cent likely to succeed Moyes,” White said.
“So, what’s the 20 per cent doubt? The fact that Bayern Munich still show interest.”
It has been well documented that a large section of the West Ham fanbase are underwhelmed by Lopetegui’s potential appointment.
Labelled a ‘Spanish Moyes’ by some, there was even a protest petition launched online.
Is Bayern Munich claim just a cunning ploy?
The faction of Hammers fans not overly enamoured at the prospect of Lopetegui argue he is not the progressive, innovative modern manager they crave.
That is a notion Spanish football expert Balague strongly disagrees with.
West Ham fans of a certain vintage will now White is known for being close with majority owner David Sullivan.
White is known to be friendly with Sullivan and his former fellow co-owner David Gold.
So much so, some West Ham fans have previously accused him of being a ‘board puppet’ when he has defended them in the past.
Clearly it is in West Ham’s interests that fans get behind the appointment of Lopetegui.
Not only for the new manager’s sake but also with season ticket renewal deadline now less than a month away.
“Beating Bayern to boss” makes it look like a coup?
So it is not a reach to suggest – as many Hammers fans are on social media – that White talking up Bayern as rival suitors for Lopetegui is designed to make supporters feel his capture is something of a coup.
White may be blissfully unaware of that of course and is merely reporting what his sources are telling him.
Knowing who that source might be, though, suggests it could be a cunning ploy to put a positive spin on the Lopetegui appointment.
You can see the headlines and press release now: ‘West Ham beat Bayern Munich to Lopetegui’.
‘The Hammers fought off competition from some prestigious European clubs’ and so on.
On the flip side it may well be genuine that Bayern have a 20 per cent chance of scuppering West Ham’s move.
If that is the case then why would the Hammers make the decision on Moyes without being sure they have his replacement in the bag?