LONDON: Two London clubs have moved to fill their managerial vacancies with West Ham appointing Manuel Pellegrini and Arsenal poised to confirm Unai Emery.
Pellegrini has been named Hammers’ new boss on a three-year contract. The 64-year-old Chilean, previously in charge of Real Madrid and Manchester City, left his role with Hebei China Fortune over the weekend and flew to London for talks about succeeding David Moyes.
The Hammers opted not to keep Moyes on after the Scot’s short-term contract ended following the final game of the Premier League season – a 3-1 win over his former side Everton which saw them finish 13th.
Joint chairman David Sullivan told the club’s website: “IManuel Pellegrini is one of the world’s most respected football coaches and we look forward to working with him.
“It was important that we appointed someone with knowledge and experience of the Premier League, who already has an understanding – not only of the teams and players we face – but of West Ham United and our ambitions.
“Manuel brings a reputation for attacking football and getting the best out of his players. We believe he will attract new talent to the London Stadium as well as improving the current squad.”
Pellegrini coached Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga in Spain before taking charge of Manchester City in 2013, wining the 2013-14 Premier League title as well as the League Cup twice before his departure. He left in June 2016, to be succeeded by Pep Guardiola, but was soon back in work at Hebei.
Despite being under contract through to the end of 2018 and with a reported release clause of $7m Hebei confirmed on Saturday that Pellegrini had left.
As for Arsenal, the Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta had been leading favourite to succeed Arsene Wenger, but former Paris St Germain boss Emery is expected to be announced in the role later this week.
The 46-year-old left PSG when his contract expired at the end of the season after winning one Ligue 1 title and four domestic cups during his two-season spell in charge.
Emery also led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles from 2014.
Santi Cazorla is leaving the club after coming to the end of his contract. The 33-year-old made 180 appearances for the Gunners since signing from Malaga in 2012, scoring 29 goals in all competitions. The former Spain international has not appeared since an achilles injury in October 2016.
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