Lopetegui called one West Ham star 'really good' and wanted £17m man at Wolves

It may only be two years since Andriy Yarmolenko’s extra-time goal knocked Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla side out of the Europa League, but West Ham United have gone through their fair share of changes since then.

At least, from the perspective of their playing personnel.

In the build up to that last-16 tie at the London Stadium, Julen Lopetegui picked out six Hammers players he felt could cause European specialists Sevilla a few headaches.

Now, flash forward to May 2024. With the former Wolves, Real Madrid, Porto and Spain boss expected to take over from David Moyes – HITC understands he impressed David Sullivan during initial talks last week – Lopetegui looks set to inherit a squad with only one of that aforementioned sextet remaining.

Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images

“I am expecting we will play a team with extraordinary players who will create difficulties for us,” Lopetegui said back in 2022, via Football London.

“They can cause damage in many ways. (Said) Benrahma, (Nikola) Vlasic, (Michail) Antonio, (and Pablo) Fornals are really good players.

“(Declan) Rice, (Manuel) Lanzini, so many good players.”

Rice, of course, is the £105 million midfield maestro pulling the strings in Arsenal’s latest Premier League charge these days. Benrahma is at Lyon, Vlasic at Torino, Fornals is back in Spain with Real Betis while Lanzini returned to his native Argentina.

That leaves Antonio – West Ham’s long-serving cannonball of a centre-forward – as the only player remaining from those Lopetegui singled out. That is not to say, of course, that the 57-year-old Spaniard will be taking over a squad of players alien to him.

Lopetegui’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side edged past Moyes’ outfit in January last year, three hard earned points secured by a team who were drifting along at the bottom of the Premier League when he succeeded Bruno Lage and ended the season in the comfort of mid-table.

According to The Mirror, meanwhile, Lopetegui is also a big fan of Konstantinos Mavropanos, and wanted the one-time Arsenal youngster at Molineux before he swapped Stuttgart for West Ham in a £19 million deal. Given that concerns over the club’s budget and financial means became a major reason behind his premature departure, it’s tempting to wonder if Lopetegui would still be in the Wolves hotseat today had the club managed to stump up for some of his leading transfer targets.

It’s fair to say Mavropanos’ debut season at the London Stadium is not one the towering Greek international will look back on too fondly; littered with high-profile mistakes and a partnership with Kurt Zouma which is yet to click into life.

Could Lopetegui be the appointment which saves Mavropanos from joining a pretty echoey pantheon of modern-day West Ham flops?

Many of that Hammers side who stunned Sevilla in Europe may have departed, but hopefully his admiration for Mavropanos remains.

MORE WEST HAM UNITED STORIES