West Ham United have agreed a deal to appoint Graham Potter as their new head coach on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday that West Ham were progressing in their talks with Potter, with the club later confirming the departure of  Julen Lopetegui after six months in charge.

Potter is set to take charge of West Ham for the first time on Friday as his side travel to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.

The 49-year-old has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in April 2023 and will return to Premier League management after a 21-month break.

Lopetegui won just seven of his 21 games at the helm since being appointed in the summer with Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Manchester City their 10th of the campaign.

Potter was not the only candidate who had been under consideration but was the club’s preferred option in the event of a change of management taking place.

West Ham are 14th in the Premier League after winning just six of their opening 20 league matches.

The Athletic reported in December that West Ham’s board were discussing Lopetegui’s future, with the 53-year-old fighting to save his job as the club considered all options.

That came following a 5-2 home defeat against Arsenal and a 3-1 away loss against newly-promoted Leicester City.

Since then, West Ham have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton, drawn against Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion and suffered a 5-0 home loss against Liverpool and 4-1 loss at Manchester City on Saturday.

Lopetegui was appointed to replace David Moyes in May and signed a two-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. A busy summer followed at West Ham, with Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug among nine signings made under technical director Tim Steidten.

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Potter has been linked to several jobs over the last year and declined the chance to take over at Dutch side Ajax last May, after previously turning down a similar approach from French club Lyon. He was also under consideration for the Leicester City vacancy in June and was a candidate for the England men’s job after Gareth Southgate stepped down a month later.

Potter appeared on Amazon Prime’s coverage of West Ham’s defeat at Leicester City in December and said he was “open to everything” when asked about his future.

“You’re open to everything…”

Graham Potter on whether he’s looking to get back into a managerial role 👀#PLonPrime pic.twitter.com/jOGNKOVsA9

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 3, 2024

Potter was appointed at Chelsea in September 2022, leaving his position as Brighton & Hove Albion head coach to replace Thomas Tuchel. Despite signing a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge, Potter was sacked after fewer than seven months in charge after winning just 12 of his 31 matches at the helm.

Potter spent seven and a half seasons in charge of Ostersund — whom he guided from the Swedish fourth division to the knockout stages of the Europa League in 2018 — before taking over Swansea City for the 2018-19 Championship season.

He then spent three seasons at Brighton before his tenure at Chelsea, guiding them to 15th-, 16th- and ninth-place finishes while garnering praise for an expansive and entertaining brand of football.

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(Top photo: Iain Kington/AFP via Getty Images)