bereaved after the death of his father, Lopetegui returned to Spain

To attend the funeral of his father José, who died this Tuesday at the age of 94, Julen Lopetegui returned to Spain. The West Ham coach should be back on the Hammers bench this weekend for the Brighton reception.

Grieving after the death of his father, Julen Lopetegui left England for Spain to attend the funeral of his father José. Aware of the latter’s health problems, the West Ham coach visited him for the last time in November, during the last international break.

A West Ham spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail “that Julen Lopetegui is returning to Spain to attend the funeral of his father, José, who sadly died on Tuesday at the age of 94.” The English club then sent “sincere condolences to Julen, his family and friends”, and asks “that their privacy be respected at this time.”

José Lopetegui, a former weightlifting champion

If the English media announces that Julen Lopetegui should be back on the Hammers bench on Saturday for the reception of Brighton in the Premier League, it is his deputies, Pablo Sanz and Edu Rubio, who will take over this week, to supervise training.

For his part, the Hammers coach will spend the week with members of his family, to pay a final tribute to José. He was a former weightlifting champion in the practice of stone lifting, a Basque sport. “He was a great sportsman in several sports, but he did not play football. In fact, I am the black sheep of the family, because my brother was a Basque pelota player for many years at a high professional level” , explained the former Real Madrid coach earlier this year to the Daily Mail.