Manager West Ham looked at before Graham Potter is available – he’s won 7 trophies

David Sullivan is unlikely to ever admit it of course – at least not publicly – but the West Ham United owner may wish he could roll back the clock to January 2025 and choose a different successor for Julen Lopetegui.

As it stands, only Avram Grant has a worse win rate than Graham Potter as a West Ham United manager in the Premier League era.

And as club legend Tony Cottee pointed out while largely praising West Ham’s tendency to keep the faith for far longer than most top-flight clubs would allow, suffering relegation under Grant in 2010 is a warning they must heed or risk history repeating itself.

The Potter tenure appears to be on its last legs now.

Where West Ham would be had they hired one of their many alternative options eight months ago is anyone’s guess, though most of those who joined him on that post-Lopetegui wishlist would back themselves to have mustered far more than six wins from 25 games.

Hammers News can confirm that David Sullivan held talks with Christophe Galtier and Paulo Fonseca around the turn of the year. According to The Guardian, Kasper Hjulmand, Sebastian Hoeness and Roger Schmidt were also the subject of ‘checks’.

Now, as the upcoming international break is likely to mark a change – Graham Potter should oversee trips to Everton and Arsenal before making way in October – there is one member of that aforementioned coaching quintet who could be available to take his place immediately.

West Ham United looked at former Benfica coach Roger Schmidt before hiring Graham Potter

It’s not Christophe Galtier.

The former Paris Saint-Germain coach is currently working in Saudi Arabia with nouveau-riche Neom SC. One-time West Ham winger Said Benhrama inspired Neom’s promotion to the Pro League last season. Now, both he and Galtier have their sights fixed on larger prizes.