What a baptism of fire for new West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui. No sooner had the Spaniard got his feet under the table and introduced himself to everyone from the tea lady to the technical director before he was hit with the Lucas Paqueta news.
As J-Lo will come to learn, there is rarely a dull day at West Ham, and yesterday was no different. The former Real Madrid boss had spent the morning performing media duties in his new role before attending meetings with several staff members.
Therefore, I’m quite certain the last thing he needed was to discover that one of his star players was subject to an FA investigation and subsequent charges.
Perhaps Lopetegui had intended on sanctioning Paqueta’s transfer to Manchester City to raise funds, or maybe he intended to build a new team around him? Either way, it’s bad news for the club and an unfortunate start for a head coach who prides himself on being prepared.
Welcome to West Ham, Mr Lopetegui.