Lopetegui now set for shock international job | OneFootball

The Spanish tactician has been out of work since being sacked by West Ham earlier this season, having made an awful start to the season.

Lopetegui has previously impressed in the Premier League during a stint in charge of Wolves, while he’s also had big jobs with Real Madrid and the Spanish national team.

Now, however, he’s set for an interesting new challenge as a big-name appointment for Qatar, according to the Daily Mail.

Julen Lopetegui back in management after awful West Ham spell

Julen Lopetegui during his time as West Ham manager (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Lopetegui could be a fine appointment for Qatar as they look to make progress on the international scene, and it’s perhaps not surprising that the 58-year-old struggled to find a job at another big club after such a dire stint at the London Stadium.

In fairness to Lopetegui, however, it’s been a generally poor season for West Ham, who haven’t really improved much since Graham Potter replaced the Spaniard as manager.

It increasingly looks like it was a mistake by the Hammers to part ways with David Moyes last summer.

West Ham suffering after poor signings

West Ham have problems in a number of areas, but their recruitment has probably been the single biggest issue for them in recent times.

Lopetegui likely didn’t have a huge amount of control over transfers during his time as manager, with Tim Steidten notably coming in for a lot of criticism there.

Big money was spent on flops like Niclas Fullkrug, Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who haven’t really lived up to expectations either under Lopetegui or Potter.