Preston North End legend reportedly heading for exit as West Ham line replacement up

Former Preston North End player-turned manager David Moyes looks set to depart West Ham at the end of the season.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported on Sunday that the Hammers had 'already decided' on parting ways with Moyes before their 5-0 defeat to Chelsea. They already have a replacement in mind and that is Julen Lopetegui, who was once the manager of Wolves and also a reported target for Manchester United.

The 60-year-old's contract at the London Stadium is up at the end of the season and his second departure from the London club looks to be on the cards. He's been with West Ham since 2019 after joining them and under his stewardship, they won the Europa Conference League last season.

The man that is being heavily tipped to replace him is Lopetegui. He was the manager of Wolves from November 2022 to August 2023, and left on the eve of the Premier League season. It was thought that he'd become the manager of AC Milan, but there was fan backlash to his potential appointment, with a petition set up.

Moyes is in the 26th-year of his managerial career which began at Deepdale. He was a player with North End from 1993 to 1998 and took the reins over from Gary Peters when they were in Division Two. He took them to within a game of the Premier League after winning promotion in 2000.

Since leaving North End in March 2002 for Everton he's held a career mainly spent as a Premier League manager. He was in charge of Everton for 11-years, as well as managing Manchester United for a season, and then had a year at Real Sociedad. The former Celtic man was also the manager of Sunderland for a season.