Julen Lopetegui facing sack after Leicester collapse as West Ham draw up three-man shortlist led by ex-Chelsea boss
WEST HAM are preparing a shortlist of potential replacements for Julen Lopetegui following their 3-1 defeat at Leicester.
Ex-Chelsea boss Graham Potter, former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic and Sergio Conceicao are all under consideration.
Lopetegui was close to the sack before West Ham’s game at Newcastle last month.
An impressive victory bought the former Wolves manager more time.
But a shambolic defeat to Arsenal and a humbling at Leicester on Tuesday night have piled the pressure back on.
The Hammers leadership are often reluctant to sack managers mid-season.
Yet it did not take long for concerns to build over Lopetegui’s role.
Terzic led Dortmund to the Champions League final last season and is thought to be the favoured option within the club.
There are, however, doubts over how keen he is on a move to the London Stadium.
Conceicao, 50, won three Portuguese titles with Porto, who he left last summer.
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While Potter, who has been out of work since leaving Chelsea in April last year, recently turned down Leicester and is thought to be interested.
Coincidentally, he was on punditry duty for the Hammers’ Leicester defeat on Amazon Prime Video.
Potter has been doing the rounds on TV in recent weeks and previously appeared on Sky Sports.
And he will have seen close-hand exactly what problems West Ham are running into on the pitch.
Jamie Vardy needed just two minutes to put the Foxes ahead on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game.
Bilal El Khannouss doubled Leicester’s lead in the second half.
And Patson Daka’s late strike ensured that Niclas Fullkrug’s 93rd minute effort was no more than a consolation for the visitors.
West Ham at least face a kind looking set of fixtures up until playing Liverpool at the end of the year.
Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton lie ahead in their next four games.