LONDON — West Ham United have named former Chelsea manager Graham Potter as their new head coach to replace Julen Lopetegui on a two-and-a-half year contract, the Premier League club announced today.

Potter returns to a managerial role for the first time since departing from Chelsea in April 2023, hoping to lift West Ham from 14th place, where they sit just seven points above the relegation zone.

“It was important to me that I waited until a job came along that I felt was right for me, and equally that I was the right fit for the club I am joining,” Potter said in a statement.

“My conversations with the chairman and the board have been very positive and constructive, we share the same values of hard work and high energy to create the solid foundations that can produce success.

“We are on the same wavelength in terms of what is needed in the short-term and then how we want to move the club forward in the medium to long term.”

Chelsea’s new ownership paid more than 21 million pounds for Potter in September 2022 after the 49-year-old guided Brighton & Hove Albion to ninth-place in the Premier League in the previous season.

Potter, however, lasted only 31 games, posting 12 wins, before being dismissed, as the Englishman failed to get the best out of a squad bolstered by over €600 million (RM2.78 billion) in signings across two transfer windows.

Former Swansea City boss Potter, who was also linked with the England job before Thomas Tuchel’s appointment, now faces the challenge of reviving the form that saw West Ham win the Conference League in 2023, ending a 23-year trophy drought.

His first game in charge will be the FA Cup third-round tie at Aston Villa tomorrow.