OPINION
Rafa Benitez. Manuel Pellegrini. Paulo Fonseca. Unai Emery. Marco Silva.
These are the five names that have reportedly emerged as the main candidates to take over from David Moyes as manager of West Ham United.
The Scot’s departure from the London Stadium was confirmed by the club today, with the 55-year-old leaving after guiding the Irons to a respectable 13th-place finish in the Premier League.
Reports suggest that the club have wasted no time in choosing his successor, with chairman David Sullivan said to have held talks with Shakhtar boss Fonseca on Monday.
Football.london now claim that the Portuguese is out of the running to become the next Hammers boss, with Sullivan worried about his lack of English and unproven record.
The club will no doubt look to schedule talks with the other candidates on their shortlist, but there is one other manager who the club must consider after he became available on Wednesday.
As reported by ESPN, Ralph Hasenhuttl has left Bundesliga side RB Leipzig by mutual consent, leaving the club a year early with his contract running until 2019.
The 50-year-old Austrian has been instrumental in bringing the minnows into the Bundesliga before storming to an unprecedented second-placed finish last season.
This time round Leipzig could only manage sixth in the German top-flight, with Hasenhuttl and the club agreeing a mutual termination of his contract.
Hasenhuttl has been linked to the vacant Arsenal job, but looks unlikely to get that, and the Hammers must look at him as a candidate to replace Moyes at the London Stadium.
The 50-year-old tactician first found success in bringing Ingolstadt to the Bundesliga for the very first time in their history, before securing their survival the next season.
He then took over at Leipzig and did the same, before helping them to second in their first season in the top-flight, leading to a Champions League campaign this term.
The 2017/18 season has not gone to plan, but Hasenhuttl’s high-pressing style is perfectly suited to the Premier League, with the Austrian drawing comparisons to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
He would be somewhat of a left-field choice for the Hammers, but his success with Leipzig shows that he has what it takes at the top level, and he should definitely be considered for the job in the coming days.
