West Ham hold Julen Lopetegui meeting in new six-figure twist – Sources
Julen Lopetegui was in line to take over the Belgium national team and earn a salary of £589k per year, West Ham Zone has learned.
It’s understood that the Spaniard is continuing to be paid by the Hammers even though they parted ways with him at the start of January.
West Ham Zone understands that a meeting was held this week between him and the club hierarchy that would allow him to keep the money received by the Irons while also pocketing a salary from the Belgian FA, but that was unsuccessful.
Julen Lopetegui was set to get a job right after West Ham sacked him
The same issue occurred with Thierry Henry and this led to Belgium deciding to name Rudi Garcia as the head coach. [Sacha Tavolieiri]
Prior to Garcia’s appointment, Lopetegui was the frontrunner to take over the reins.
Vincent Mannaert, the sporting director of the Belgian FA, was the primary decision maker and he wanted it to be the former Hammers manager.
However, the entire process with the Irons would’ve taken too much time and they wanted to make an appointment before the end of January.
Currently, Lopetegui remains out of work while Graham Potter has replaced him at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have made contact to sign an international striker who’s scored 15 goals in 18 games this season.
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