West Ham have refused to grant Manuel Pellegrini his preferred choice Argentine Mario Husillos to be the club’s new head of recruitment, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim the new Hammers manager has “lost” a boardroom battle with co-owner David Sullivan and David Gold as he pushed for Husillos to be appointed the club’s new transfer guru to replace sacked Tony Henry.
The Sun report that Husillos has instead been offered the chief scout role rather than the more senior head of recruitment after the board were underwhelmed by his record at Malaga last season.
OPINION
The Sun have billed Pellegrini’s attempts to bring Husillos to the London Stadium as a power struggle – and one that the Chilean manager has lost. If true – and the newspaper have a strong track record of breaking West Ham stories – it will full supporters with despair. They have little trust or faith in the two Davids and instead want Pellegrini to be given the platform to reshape the squad and backroom team after two wretched campaigns following Slaven Bilic’s excellent debut season at the helm. Like many managers, Pellegrini wants allies and those he trusts close at hand. Only those involved at Malaga will know the true extent of Husillos’ failings, indeed if there were any, last season and his departure announced last week gave little indication of any issues behind the scenes. He is certainly well known to Pellegrini, as they worked together at Malaga before the 64-year-old arrived at Manchester City in 2013. The new manager clearly trusts the judgement of a man who helped Malaga punch above their weight for three years. Pellegrini will likely play down speculation of disharmony, but fans will be forgiven for have a nagging feeling that things aren’t going to work out.
