OPINION
Amid reports of mansion meetings with Paulo Fonseca and a keen interest in Rafa Benitez following the departure of David Moyes, West Ham fans would have been waiting with bated breath for the announcement of their next manager.
Little did they know that club bosses had already set in motion a move to appoint Manuel Pellegrini to the role, with their pursuits of the likes of Fonseca and Benitez merely a smokescreen for a deal that had been agreed several months ago.
That is according to Football.london, who claim that a secret agreement had been struck between the two parties in 2017 which would see the Chilean appointed as Hammers boss this summer.
It is said that discussions over transfer budget and targets had already taken place, as had arrangements for Pellegrini’s backroom team to follow him to the London Stadium.
The appointment of Moyes was always set to merely be a stop-gap between Bilic and Pellegrini, with the Scot never in line for an extension to his contract this summer.
All in all this is a stunning revelation on the Pellegrini appointment, and it really gives hope as fans look forward to the Chilean’s reign at the London Stadium.
This Irons board is constantly painted as a useless, bumbling collection of out-of-touch idiots, but this reported turn of events show that they are capable of putting in place brilliant plans and executing them correctly.
They identified Pellegrini as the man they wanted to take the club forward, a decision few can argue with, and they set about bringing that to reality as early as possible.
Upon realising that an appointment in November was impossible, they instead sealed an agreement for the Chilean to take over in the summer, with Moyes the right man to secure Premier League survival for now.
This was a seriously clever ploy from the West Ham board, who have shown that they are indeed capable of doing some good at the London Stadium.
This success may signal an important change of tack from the likes of David Sullivan, who have meddled too much in the past and tempered the club’s success.
Now that Pellegrini is in charge after seven months of work behind the scenes, maybe the board will take a step back and allow the Chilean mastermind to work his magic and bring the club back to where it belongs.
