West Ham are set to hold a board meeting in the next 48 hours to decide whether to sack Julen Lopetegui, sources have told ESPN.
The 58-year-old was subjected to chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” by his own fans after Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at Leicester City.
The result was West Ham’s seventh Premier League loss from 14 games and comes just three days after being thrashed 5-2 at home by Arsenal.
Sources have told ESPN that the West Ham hierarchy are reluctant to part with a manager they only appointed in May on a two-year contract — with an option for a third year — but some senior figures are losing faith in the Spaniard.
With a section of West Ham support seemingly turning on Lopetegui, the club could feel compelled to act with a decision expected before Monday’s home game against Wolves.
Lopetegui replaced David Moyes with the aim of improving the team’s playing style and was backed with a flurry of new signings totalling almost £125 million ($149 million).
However, they have won just five games in all competitions and were heavily beaten 5-1 at Liverpool in the EFL Cup third round.
When asked about the negative chanting fans at the King Power Stadium, Lopetegui said after the game: “I am a coach, I am not aware about what happens around me. I am focused on the match so I can’t say anything about this.
“The only thing that I’m worried about is if we are able to change this situation. For sure I believe in the players. We have done a good match talking about the football but talking about the score, no.”
Lopetegui also insisted that he was not concerned about mounting speculation over his future.
“The only thing I’m worried about now is to go to tomorrow’s training session and encourage the players and prepare for the next challenge,” he said.
“Normally, when you do what we did, you are going to win the match, but we didn’t do that and it’s hard to explain. It’s hard forhe players, for us and for the fans.”
Lopetegui made his name at Sevilla, securing three consecutive top-four finishes and winning the Europa League before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He guided Wolves from the foot of the Premier League to a mid-table finish in 2022-2023 but left after only nine months in charge after falling out with the club over their transfer policy.