Graham Potter to West Ham: Former Chelsea boss secures deal to take over from Julen Lopetegui - exclusive

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West Ham has scheduled a press conference for 9am on Thursday morning at the London Stadium.

Potter - who could take charge of a tough FA Cup third-round trip to Aston Villa on Friday - is set to return to management 20 months since he was sacked by Chelsea just seven months and 31 matches into a five-year contract.

The time is right for Potter

News' Kaveh Solhekol:

"He was waiting for West Ham to do what they have done and parted ways with Lopetegui.

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"The timing works for both. West Ham need a bit of stability right now. It's a good fit because Graham Potter wants a project. He's ready to get back into mangement.

"I think the owners and fans will like his brand of football, the fact that he promotes youth, the fact he likes a progressive style.

"But can he get that instant success? Five of their next seven Premier League matches are London derbies - and in the middle of those is a return to Stamford Bridge."

'Sporting director Steidten will be under scrutiny'

News reporter Dharmesh Sheth:

"I think there will be quite a lot of eyeballs on sporting director Tim Steidten.

"Julen Lopetegui was the unanimous choice among the board to take over as West Ham manager; if you speak to some fans, they felt a little bit underwhelmed by the appointment. Now he's gone, you'd think there's going to be a bit of pressure on Steidten.

"They spent over £100m in the summer, and he was central to that recruitment. By definition, because Lopetegui has gone, you can almost call those first few weeks a bit of a failure and what they looked like in the transfer window.

"Looking ahead to this transfer window, I think it's going to be really interesting to see the kind of deals West Ham do and even more scrutiny on their sporting director."