HAMMERS SET TO NAME PELLEGRINI AS NEW MANAGER IN NEXT 48 HOURS
Old City boss Pellegrini told: Turn us in to a top-half team
MANUEL PELLEGRINI will be confirmed as the new West Ham manager within the next 48 hours – with a brief to turn the Hammers into a top10 team.
The 64-year-old will be named as David Moyes’s replacement after Rafa Benitez decided to stay at Newcastle.
Pellegrini – a former Real Madrid boss – spent three years at Manchester City and clinched the Premier League title in his first season in charge, the 2013-14 campaign.
He went on to lift two League Cups at the Etihad before being replaced in 2016 by Pep Guardiola.
Pellegrini was first approached by West Ham in October to replace Slaven Bilic but didn’t want to take over midseason. He quit Chinese Super League side China Fortune at the weekend after agreeing a deal with the Hammers to return to the Premier League.
West Ham chairman David Sullivan pledged last week to appoint a manager with “a proven level of success at the highest level”.
The Irons are now set to provide their new man with a substantial transfer budget after a poor season.
Pellegrini was replaced by City after failing to bring the Champions League trophy to the Etihad. He did, however, lead them to the semi-finals in 2016, the furthest they have ever gone.
West Ham had made Benitez, who has just 12 months remaining on his Toon contract, their first choice and were confident of landing him after receiving a positive response from his camp.
But the east Londoners finally admitted defeat last week after learning Newcastle had made clear to the Spaniard that he will have money to spend this summer.
Hammers had also considered former Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery and Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca, who met Sullivan last Monday. Fonseca, also targeted by Everton, has since signed a new contract to stay at his Ukrainian club.