Exclusive: West Ham considered an audacious loan move for £58m Real Madrid star

11/21/2024 06:15 AM

• EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey

A while prior to joining West Ham United in the summer, Julen Lopetegui famously coached Real Madrid, a job that followed his time as manager of Spain.

West Ham appointed a manager with a decorated CV, but it hasn't worked out thus far and Lopetegui is enduring the worst points per match performance of his career.

In theory, the Hammers have yielded 1.15 points per game across all competitions under Lopetegui, down from his numbers at Spain (2.40) and Madrid (1.43) – where he was only in charge for 14 games.

That being said, West Ham looked to Lopetegui's former club for a potential reinforcement on loan recently, interest that was soon rebuffed.

West Ham wanted Endrick on loan but Real Madrid stood firm

TBR Football understands West Ham were one of the clubs who recently showed an interest in young superstar Endrick.

Unfortunately for West Ham, Madrid have no intention of loaning Endrick in January, having already rebuffed interest in the summer.

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Endrick made his long awaited switch to Spain in the summer, at which time a number of European clubs enquired about the prospect of loaning the teenage talent.

Madrid considered their options before ultimately deciding to keep the Brazilian, who joined in a deal worth up to £58m.

In theory, West Ham would be interested in Endrick if he was made available on loan in January.

However, that is not the case and Madrid insist that they have not spoken with any club.

Endrick is not available, despite reports that fellow Premier Leaguer strugglers Southampton could be an option.

Why did Real Madrid sack Julen Lopetegui?

Back in 2018, Lopetegui was actually sacked twice in less than six months by both Spain and Real Madrid.

The current West Ham boss was sacked by Spain on the eve of the World Cup because the Spanish football federation was unaware that he was in talks to take the Madrid job, which was then announced.

Incidentally, Lopetegui was simply sacked by Real Madrid because of his poor results – it was deemed that there was a huge discrepancy between the squad's quality and their league position.

Madrid went eight hours without scoring under the Spaniard, which was 12 minutes short of their worst run ever.

Of course, Lopetegui remains under pressure at West Ham, and he'll be gearing up for some huge fixtures in the coming weeks.